Empowered by water
ANITA CHAUDHARY,a resident of Garhmau village in Madhya Pradesh,is one of the 56 women felicitated by the Union government in March this year for her efforts to improve the water situation in her area. As head of Garhmau's water and sanitation committee since 2020,she has been monitoring supply of water to households in the village in Mohkhed tehsil,Chhindwara district,and sensitising other residents on conservation.
Two decades ago,Chaudhary,like most women in her village,spent a large part of the day walking 2-5 km to fetch water for her household’s needs.“We had no time to take care of our children.Our health declined as we covered long distances on foot with heavy water containers; some women were gravely injured”she says. In 2015,Madhya Pradesh introduced the Mohkhed Water Supply Scheme to provide household water connections in the tehsil. The scheme was later brought under the aegis of the Centre's Jal Jeevan Mission,2019 that aims to ensure drinking water supply through taps in all households by 2024.
The women in the tehsil took charge to ensure proper implementation of the scheme.Mamta Sudama Doble of Mau village, for instance,decided to play a greater role in governance.“I stood as a sarpanch candidate for the village panchayat in 2012, on the promise of addressing water issues. But I lost.In 2022,when I contested again, the government had started supplying water to households,but I was elected on the promise of keeping the system running properly,”she says.
Further,the women nominated one or two members from each of the self-help groups already present in the tehsil to join the water and sanitation committee,as mandated by the Jal Jeevan Mission.Half the members of the committee should be women.“We received training and kits from the government to test the quality of water supplied.If any village resident complains, we check the water and coordinate with officials to resolve issues,”says Chaudhary.
Currently,there are some 8,500 water connections across 32-33 villages in the tehsil,says Basant Kumar Belvanshi, manager of Mohkhed Water Supply Scheme. Around 50,000 residents benefit from this.
The results have not only eased women’s water woes,but also empowered them.In general,women in Mohkhed work as daily-wage labourers,earning R150-200 a day.But Chaudhary,for instance,opened a general provision store in 2021 that provides her additional income each month.Other women have taken up sewing or tutoring.
Such changes are reflected across the country,as more households are supplied water under the Jal Jeevan Mission.“In many states,we see women’s health and livelihoods improve as the burden of fetching water is lifted off their shoulders,”says Sushmita Sengupta,senior programme manager,water,at Delhi-based think tank Centre for Science and Environment.
Access to water in households helps women save time to earn additional income and improve their quality of life