Community Management of Rural Water Supply

"This excellent book, based on a series of case studies in India on both the concept and practice of community management, has a wider relevance because of the rigour of the research, the clarity of the financial, social and institutional analysis and the relevance of the comparisons that it draws between different contexts and countries. Scholars, donors, service providers and all those interested or involved not just in rural water supply but more broadly in all aspects of development will enjoy and benefit from reading it." - Ravi Narayanan, Chair, Governing Council, Asia Pacific Water Forum

"The challenge of everyone getting access to safe, affordable drinking water is at the heart of SDG6 and the central debate within the Rural Water Supply Network is how to achieve this. The era of the "build a water point/train the community/leave" water project is drawing to a close as the short-comings of this approach become ever more apparent. But where next? A return to large top-down programmes is unthinkable, and - despite much noise - the paradigm of the plucky entrepreneur has yet to prove itself to be a more sustainable and equitable alternative. The authors of Community Management of Rural Water Supply have delved into the rich, complex world of rural water supply in India (where the RWSN story began) and have produced insightful and thorough analysis from across the many different socio-economic and environment contexts found across the sub-continent. Researchers, practitioners and policymakers will find a lot here on how community, private and public water services can be strengthened so that the government plays an active role in ensuring their citizens are able to exercise their rights and responsibilities to get water, that most of essential of resources. This book is a valuable contribution to this challenge faced by rural water supply professionals worldwide." - Sean Furey, Skat Foundation/Rural Water Supply Network (RWSN) Secretariat