P R E S S    R E L E A S E

Giving the Poor Better Access to Groundwater

Centrally planned public tube-well programs in India have failed to improve the livelihoods of India's poor, new research by the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program has demonstrated. Only the use of market mechanisms to manage pump subsidy and loan programs can help reduce rural poverty and vulnerability to drought.

"Eastern India's poverty can be reduced by putting pumps in the hands of the small farmer. But the sheer numbers of people is such that a market push is needed to speed the process of transforming groundwater irrigation potential into wealth and welfare for the poor." - Dr. Tushaar Shah, Leader of the IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program - an initiative to introduce research knowledge into the policy planning process.

In much of eastern India, the development of groundwater for irrigation is confirmed as the key to improving the lives of poor people on a vast scale. Examples abound of how the introduction of small pumps have energized agrarian economies by allowing people to grow food and cash crops, creating new income streams for millions of households.

Public tube well programs - though well intentioned - have undermined this potential. Strangled by bureaucracy and the local political dynamic these programs have failed to address the needs of the current market and society they serve. Government subsidies have also kept pump prices inflated by more than 35-45 per cent compared to neighboring Pakistan and Bangladesh.

In Uttar Pradesh and north Bihar, however, where pump subsidy and loan programs have been released from the stranglehold of the local bureaucracy, the results of tube-well programs have been encouraging - estimates show 800, 000 small diesel-pump-operated tube wells have been installed in eastern Uttar Pradesh since 1985, irrigating around 2.4 to 3.2 million hectares.

Here, market mechanisms have been used to manage pump subsidy and loan programs for the poor. Private dealers have proliferated in towns, who as a result of intense competition, have begun to offer farmers a range of useful services that were never offered previously - including the organization of bank loans, the issuing of pipes and pumps, and the drilling of boreholes. Elsewhere dealers extract heavy 'service charges.' But, in the Uttar Pradesh region intense competition has reduced dealer margins to 7-10 percent from 15-18 percent in other regions.

"The governments role is to support this market-oriented approach by encouraging the creation of these types of public-private partnerships," argues Dr. Shah. He adds: "The government's key role is to set market rules that allow suppliers to deliver fast service and pump equipment adapted to local farmers needs."

IWMI-Tata researchers have analyzed factors that have influenced the success and failure of groundwater development schemes throughout India. Based on these studies, five points are recommended for policy action:

  • Discontinue government minor irrigation programs and focus on private tube wells.
  • Improve electricity supply for agriculture by reintroducing metered charging, decentralized retailing of electricity, and prepaid electricity cards.
  • Promote the modification of pump sets to improve the energy efficiency of groundwater pumping, reduce pollution and lower the sale price of water.
  • Introduce small diesel pumps and manual irrigation technologies for vegetable growers and marginal farmers.
  • Remove pump subsidies and open the market to the import of smaller micro-diesel pumps.

For more information on the research see 'Bringing Pumps to People,' issue 2 of the Water Policy Briefing series (http://www.iwmi.org/waterpolicybriefing)

For questions and comments contact Dr. Tushaar Shah on +91-2692-229311-13 or e-mail t.shah@cgiar.org

For general enquiries contact Jack Durrell by e-mail j.durrell@cgiar.org

Background

The IWMI-Tata Water Policy Program is an initiative supported by the Sir Ratan Tata Trust, and the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) - a non-profit research and development organization dedicated to providing practical solutions to a range of water management problems. IWMI-Tata presents new perspectives and practical solutions derived from the wealth of research done in India on water resources management. Its objective is to help policy makers at the central, state and local levels address their water challenges - in areas such as sustainable groundwater management, water scarcity, and rural poverty - by translating research findings into practical policy recommendations.

The Policy Program's web site (http://www.iwmi.org/iwmi-tata) promotes the exchange of knowledge on water resources management within the research community and between researchers and policy makers in India.

The Water Policy Briefing Series presents new perspectives and solutions to water problems in emerging economic nations. Each briefing is based on peer-reviewed research that challenges policy makers and planners to think differently about the way water is managed for agriculture. To view current issues of the series visit http://www.iwmi.org/waterpolicybriefing