Case Study in Project Management

Enlisting Stakeholder Engagement for Successful Project

Delivery - The Case of Jalswarajya Project
Case A - The Stakeholders and Project Management

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 Enlisting Stakeholder Engagement for Successful Project
Delivery - The Case of Jalswarajya Project
Case A - The Stakeholders and Project Management
A.1 Background
In 2000, the Government of Maharashtra, India, brought out a government resolution (GR) stating that Maharashtra will
operationalize an ‘innovative community driven approach’ in water management in the rural areas. The responsibility
of implementation of the project was assigned to the state’s Water Supply and Sanitation Department (WSSD). Until
then, the official state arms, namely Maharashtra Jeevan Pradhikaran (MJP) and Zilla Parishad (ZP), had been entrusted
with the task of identifying the water and sanitation supply needs of rural communities. According to the GR “Village
residents had little say in these matters and were also not required to pay for any of these services.”

At that time, 63,298 villages/habitations (73.3 percent) were fully covered with portable water supply services, 21,521
(24.93 percent) were partially covered, and the remaining 1,494 (1.73 percent) were not covered. In spite of spending
over Rs. 166,000 million, 26 percent of the rural habitations at the time did not have ‘assured’ water supply throughout
the year. The majority of the habitations received intermittent water supply exacerbated by government’s operations and
maintenance machinery not being up to the mark. The situation was worse during summer in when water supply dried up
and villages depended on water supplied through tankers.

A.2 The Genesis of Jalswarajya

The prevailing problems in rural water supply were in the areas of non-participation and lack of capacity building of
communities to own and manage the infrastructure, and lack of standardized engineering designs and technology for
water management. This had affected the long-term, sustainable water supply in the villages.

The state government decided to adopt the Government of India’s Sector Reform Policy that provided guidelines based
upon 1) participation of communities 2) driving of the program through Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs), and 3) long-
term sustainability of services through technical and management operations by local communities. This was termed
and popularly known as the ‘demand driven’ approach. The project was formally launched in 2003.

A.3 Project Objectives

According to the World Bank that partly funded the project, the development objectives of the Jalswarajya project
were (i) increasing rural households’ access to improved and sustainable drinking water supply and sanitation
services; and (ii) institutionalizing decentralization of rural water supply and sanitation (RWSS) service delivery to rural
local governments and communities.

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The objectives assumed the need for altered priorities centred on the need to build the community and its ability to
understand the project in its entirety. It meant focussing firstly on community development, involvement of women and
indigenous people, and their capacity building. It, therefore, required the strengthening of the village panchayat . The
second priority involved the construction of the infrastructure for efficient water supply, i.e. strengthening of ground
water recharge and water supply schemes (such as digging of wells, provision of taps and tanks) and linking of school
and sanitation requirements. The third priority focussed on institutional strengthening such as district level capacity
building of the human resource in project management. It also contained the objectives of ensuring free information
flows and the establishment of a ‘non-confrontational’ approach to problem solving. The fourth objective was to ensure
sector development and support such as knowledge management, policy support, and water quality measurement.
Refer Appendix 3.

Finally, it was deemed necessary to launch the full scale project at the village level only after the successful
implementation of a pilot project. The pilot also contained other sub projects in ground water aquifer management and
Operations and Maintenance (O&M) management.

A.4 Stakeholder Identification

Important stakeholders that were identified in the project could be classified from the demand and the supply side as
follows

The stakeholders from the demand side consisted of:

1. Women: Women were deemed the most important stakeholders and their participation was mandatory for the
launch and running of the scheme. Their mainstreaming was ensured through the compulsory presence of a minimum
50 percent quorum of women in gram sabha meetings. The women gram sabha preceded every gram sabha.
Furthermore, all the key committees such as the Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committee (VWSC), Beneficiary
Level Sub Committee (BLSC) and Social Audit Committee (SAC) needed to have at least 50 percent women.

2. Households and Beneficiaries were the primary stakeholders. These included the community of village residents
drawn from households Below Poverty Line (BPL), backward classes, scheduled tribes, other marginalized
sections, women, and children.

The stakeholders from the supply side consisted of:

3. Government departments and the Government of Maharashtra: It is a three tiered system which has the village
at the bottom, then the zilla parishad, and finally, the government at the state level.

a. Village level- panchayat samitis, talathis, gram sevak, anganwadi sevikas, teachers, watermen, and health
workers were instrumental in driving the project

b. Zilla parishad- comprising of the District Water Management and Sanitation Committee (DWMSC), District
Facilitation Team (DFT), District Appraisal and Monitoring Team (DAMT), District Financial Management Team
(DFMT), the administration wing, zilla parishad office bearers, and other related departmental heads and
functionaries were instrumental in driving the project both at the state and village levels

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 c. State level- the Operation and Monitoring Team (OMT) was the most important state level agency that was assigned
the responsibility of project implementation to ensure that stakeholders from the demand and supply sides work
together for project success. The other entities were the state level advisory committee on water resources, WSSD,
the Reform Support Monitoring Unit (RSMU), MJP, Groundwater Surveys Development Agency (GSDA), Sector Policy
Support Team (SPST), and empowered committee.

4. Community Based Organizations (CBOs), Non Government Organizations (NGOs), Self Help Groups (SHGs): Groups
such as mahila mandals (women’s organizations), youth mandals (female and male youth clubs), and women’s social
groups played an active role in community mobilization.

5. Gram sabha and panchayat samiti: While the gram sabha was involved with the cause of participatory decision-
making, collective action, and championing the project, the panchayat samiti was responsible for providing secretarial
and monitoring assistance to the gram sabha, VWSC, and Social Audit Committee.

6. Funding Agencies: Germany based Kreditanstalt fur Wiederaufbau (KfW), World Bank, Government of India, and
International Development Assistance (IDA) contributed Rs. 937.61 crore, and the Government of Maharashtra’s
contribution was Rs. 377.10 crore. The total project size was Rs. 1395.53 crore. The communities too had to
contribute around 5.8 percent of the project cost, amounting to Rs. 80.82 crore.

A.5 Role of Community Participation in Project Implementation

The community initiative remains the cornerstone of all Jalswarajya projects . The project was initiated at the level of
the GS after the women gram sabha had discussed and agreed to the Jalswarajya project to be launched in the village.
This proposal was then forwarded to the Zilla Parishad (ZP). Officials from the ZP were required to attend the GS
meeting and explain to the village communities the details of the project and play an advisory role. They had to ensure
that the stipulated criteria stated in Exhibit A.1 had been fulfilled before proposing the project at the state level. These
included the formation of the VWSC, as per specifications, its account opening with a bank, and its readiness to procure
and execute the project. Exhibit A. 1 illustrates the process to initiate the project in a village.

However, for actual initiation of the Jalswarajya project, the villagers had to demonstrate their capacity, will, and initiative
to make their village ‘water deficit free’ and ‘open defecation free’. It was mandatory for every village that wished to
launch the project to create a women empowerment fund and a Women Development Committee (WDC) with at least
75 percent participation of women. All women’s groups federated at the village level to avail of credit and were, in turn,
linked to financial institutions. For the Village Panchayat (VP), which had to play a central role in implementing the
project, steps were to be taken to strengthen and enable the VPs to perform their roles efficiently and effectively. They
had to undergo coaching in financial management, social audit processes, and hygiene promotion, besides transparent
decision-making and strengthening the linkage between CBOs and VPs. The qualifying VPs received Rs. 25000 towards
Information, Education, and Communication (IEC) for initial efforts. Technical assistance was provided to improve the
viability and effectiveness of the existing and new water supply systems.

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 Exhibit A.1: Process to Initiate the Jalswarajya Process in a Village

Resolution passed by Gram Sabha to be forwarded to Zilla Parishad

Gram Panchayat Zilla Parishad

Solicit prior views of all stakeholders - wards/ wadies/ habitations/

mahila mandals

Gram Sabha Stakeholders

Concerned officers to attend Gram Sabha meeting to provide information and

guidance

Zilla Parishad to suggest specific schemes to Gram Sabha, in case they are not
aware of the suitability of a scheme to the village

at the time of proposal submission to ascertain- 1) the constitution of VWSC,

2) VWSC to comprise at least 50% women, and backward representation,
3) procurement and execution to be done by VWSC ,
4) bank account in the name of VWSC

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A.7.1 Community Stakeholder Communication
Communication with the community stakeholders was a major challenge due to the heterogeneous nature of the
village demography. Unusual solutions were used to mobilize villagers and inculcate the appropriate orientation among
them. Villagers did not prefer reading material; instead, the team found exposure visits of villagers to other villages
where Jalswarajya was in operation and group meetings to be more effective in explaining the project scope. Posters,
audio visual tools, wall paintings, and radio talks were also used to sensitize villagers.

A.7.2 Community Negotiation

The responsibility to help the community to formulate the most appropriate communication and negotiation options for
the village rested with the various village level project committees, village level volunteers, and gram sabha officials.
NGOs that were part of the project conducted a series of discussions and negotiations using checklists drawn up by the
district level teams. From time to time, the district teams visited the village to monitor the social processes and public
participation in decision-making processes. Their role was also to provide inter-departmental linking support at the
district level for the activity.

The village community was heterogeneous. Women and villagers from tribal communities were typically the least
empowered sections. The NGOs used various techniques of negotiation to manage internal conflicts and align various
village sections to focus on the core objective. Project committee representatives found collaborating (mutual
problem solving) and accommodating as the most effective approach for negotiation with beneficiaries of schemes.
However, at times a combination of approaches was used to drive project objectives and achieve community
agreement.

A.7.3 Community Capacity Building

In order to achieve this level of understanding and commitment, the community’s initiation into basic project management
principles was necessary. Coaching was aimed at helping the community understand the importance of enlisting the
immediate stakeholder support, interfaces with government agencies and departments, and fund planning and
deployment. The community’s ability to understand the entire project scope, technicalities, financing, and administration
arrangements were considered as a prerequisite for project success. Therefore, the components of community capacity
building were identified and deployed at project sites. Community capacity building consisted of imparting training to the
Village Water Supply and Sanitation Committee (VWSC) and the gram sabha as the monitoring body of VWSC. It meant
teaching them how to prepare the Drinking Water and Sanitation Plan, providing technical help in marketing, finance,
account keeping, and micro enterprise development. Training also comprised of developing solutions for providing
financial support for seed money for BPL families . Capacity building was a time-consuming exercise. However, it helped
bring all strata of village society to rally around the project. It resulted in a high level of transparency and a sense of
identification with the cause.

A.8 Involving Stakeholders in Managing the Project

After the success of the pilot project in three districts, the Jalswarajya project was launched in 26 districts of Maharashtra.
Project management principles were detailed out in a highly comprehensive 400 page document, the Jalswarajya Project
Implementation Plan (PIP), brought out by the project sponsor. The that was circulated to all stakeholders in
September 2003.

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 A.8.1 Jalswarajya Project Management Methodology

The Jalswarajya project contained many project management tools and techniques. The project charter, though not
termed the same at the time, contained elements like the project scope, objectives, budgets, and implementation. Even
though it was a social development project, some of the most important project management principles were
elaborated in the Jalswarajya PIP. Refer Appendix 1 for elements of project charter.

The Jalswarajya project charter contained the following elements:

A.8.1(a) Project Objectives:

1. To increase rural households’ access to improved and sustainable drinking water and sanitation services.

2. To institutionalize decentralization of rural water supply and sanitation service delivery to rural local
governments and committees.

A.8.1 (b) The Project Scope: The project scope was envisaged as a Government of Maharashtra’s initiative to
operationalize state-wide implementation of the reform agenda in the rural water supply and sanitation sector. The
project acknowledged the necessity of a high degree of learning, experimenting, and piloting to institutionalize the new
sectoral policies.

The major project components are listed in Exhibit A.3

A.8.1(c) Project Cost: The total cost of the project, including taxes, duties and physical and price contingencies, were
estimated at Rs. 13,955.25 million or US$ 268.60 million equivalent (in 2003). Refer Exhibit A.3 for the project cost
estimate.

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 A.9.3 Human Resource Management:

A number of teams worked at different levels, considering the project uniqueness and complexity. It required the
devolution of decision-making and the responsibility to manage water and sanitation needs up to the lowest tier of
the village community. Communities were given access to finances, ensuring transparency and information sharing,
balanced and consistent information flows among stakeholders, and capacity building of all stakeholders. An
important long-term aim was to improve the ability of the PRIs and community to handle development programs and
activities beyond water supply and sanitation.

A.9.3 (a) Roles and Responsibilities Chart

One of the major principles of project management is to establish clear interrelationships between functional and
project teams to ensure effective implementation of projects. A distinguishing factor of the Jalswarajya project was its
meticulously prepared document right at the beginning covering the interrelationships and project implementation
structures at three levels - institutional, personnel, and support organizations (which were expected to work at both
ends, viz. the government and the community respectively).

A.9.3 (b) Institutional Arrangements and Interrelationships:

As seen in Exhibit A.5, the basic constituents and institutional arrangements are evident with their core functions and
roles with intervening hierarchies and reporting arrangements. All the constituents with different capabilities and
priorities were required to understand their precise roles and responsibilities in this complex web of actors to ensure
smooth project implementation. The major activities were to prepare the community infrastructure, form the women
empowerment fund, and carry out the tribal/indigenous people development that was overseen by DFT. The
responsibility for institutional strengthening lay with village and state level bodies such as DFT, OMT, DFMT, ZP,
MJP/GSDA, mahila mandals, and SAC. They worked on the VP incentive fund, strengthening ZP machinery for project
implementation, strengthening state level agencies, and monitoring and learning team building. . Mahila mandals
were given the primary responsibility for data collection to strengthen knowledge management systems and for
policy support.

Exhibit A.5: Three –Tier Project Constituents and Structure for Jalswarajya

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A.9.3(c) Project Team

The Operations and Maintenance Team (OMT) was designated as the project implementers and support providers. OMT
also monitored the progress and impact of the project. It comprised of specialists with strong operational skills and field
experience as mentioned below:

• Project manager
• Environment specialist
• Ground water specialist
• Community development specialist (general)
• Tribal (indigenous people) development specialist
• Gender specialist
• Health and sanitation specialist
• Monitoring and evaluation specialist
• Capacity building specialist
• Development communication specialist
• IT /MIS specialist
• Procurement specialist
• Private sector development specialist
• Senior accounts officer specialist

A.9.4 Quality Management:

The baseline survey and the Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) were necessary inputs to gauge the quality of water as
it existed in the village chosen to launch the project. Based on the survey, water quantity and quality issues were
tackled with the help of community representatives. Water quality was classified under 1) natural contamination such
as salinity due to sea ingression, or alluvial parts of the river, and 2) chemical contamination due to fluoride, nitrate, and
iron. The project document clarified mitigation measures that could be implemented by the project team in the course
of the project execution.

A.9.5 Communication Management:

Communication management was planned at three levels, i.e. state, district, and village. It involved creating a clear
network and closed loops among the agencies and teams involved in the project. This complex web of communication
was captured by creating a Management Information System (MIS) as a central activity in the monitoring and learning
system. The MIS generated reports for internal consumption, which was used for monitoring project inputs, outputs,
and activities.

A.9.6 Risk Management:

The project identified major risks which could arise during project implementation. a) Policy level risks arising due to
priorities being accorded to other social programs or delays in decision making by higher authorities. b) Institutional risks
arising from asynchronous behavior and excessively bureaucratic functioning that could lead to delays. Relations with
Support Organizations (SOs) and district level officers could affect project processes and motivation of SOs.
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The VWSCs could be misinterpreted as a threat to the VP’s powers. c) Process related risks were identified as long
gestation period that could lead to a loss of interest in the project in the community, compromises in the process
which could hamper informed and participatory decisions and weaken integrity, political interference in the selection
of the districts and villages for the project, and decisions by communities related to infrastructure not backed by
adequate technical investigations. d) Human resource related risks were the differential levels of understanding of the
sector reform and the project by the constituent members which could lead to delays, confusions, and conflicts and
also officials of local governance institutions who do not accept reforms and act as barriers. e) Finance related risks
were cost overruns, either due to underestimation, additional work, or non-performance by service providers that
could lead to delays in the implementation. Other risks identified were financial indiscipline and lack of cost controls
at the GP level and mismatch between budgetary provisions with financial demands emerging in projects. f) Technical
risks were inadequate groundwater sources, miscalculation of water demand, development of new sources leading to
abandoning of existing sources, poor technical designs that did not take into account local realities (electricity supply,
source recharge rate etc,), poor quality of constructed works, and miscalculation in the O&M requirements of the
proposed and existing assets during technical option selection. g) Natural resources related risks were that the
community could draw water in excess of the specified allocation of 40 LPCD, deterioration in the quality of water
sources, and digging of irrigation wells in the vicinity of drinking water sources.

A.9.7 Procurement Management:

At the village level, it was guided by the ‘Community Participation in Procurement’ manual. VPs were empowered to
enter into contracts directly with private contractors, NGOs, consultants, and government agencies, and had to procure
based on the principles of efficiency, equal opportunity, and transparency in the process. Village communities managed
water supply and sanitation facilities, and hired skilled contractors and purchase materials locally. A special Jalswarajya
schedule of rates was created and regularly updated. The primary entities engaged in and responsible for village level
procurement were the GS, VP, VWSC, procurement, finance and supervision sub-committee, SO, and DFT.

A.9.8 Stakeholder Management:

The Jalswarajya project contains one of the most detailed analysis of the stakeholders in the project and their
management as described in considerable detail in the earlier sections.

A.10 Jalswarajya Project and the Five Process Groups of A Guide to Project Management Body of Knowledge
(PMBOK® Guide)

The Jalswarajya project included the most important precepts included in PMI’s A Guide to Project Mangement Body of
Knowledge (PMBOK® Guide) knowledge and process areas, though they were not clearly enumerated as such. All the five
Process Groups of Initiating, Planning, Executing, Monitoring and Controlling, Closing were strictly followed.

A.10.1 Plan Appraisal and Sanction

The village action plan prepared by the community was appraised for conformity with project principles and improvements
were suggested during the plan appraisal and sanction phase. Refer Appendix 6. The outcome of this phase was a gram
sabha approved comprehensive village action plan complete with scientific, social, economic, and technical appraisal
which formed the basis for a memorandum of understanding between the VP and ZP to provide financial assistance to
implement the project.

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A.10.3 Community Implementation

Community implementation involved procuring goods and works, contracting services, construction and quality
assurance. Activities during implementation, responsible actors, and outcomes are shown in Appendix 9.

A.10.4 Operation and Maintenance

The VWSC operated and maintained the facilities, for which their members received training. They were also entrusted
with collection of O&M charges. The critical outcome of O&M activities is geared towards delivering services to the
community in a cost-effective manner. Activities during the O&M phase of the project, responsible actors, and outcome of
those activities are shown in Appendix 10.

A.11 Overall Outcome and Current Status

The project is in operation and village level responses to the water and sanitation services demonstrate that project’s
stakeholders were either extremely satisfied (38%) or satisfied (62%) with the project outcome. The same survey found
that service delivery was satisfactory, and had no issues in terms of collection of water tax, participation of community in
the ongoing activities, or breakdown of service.

Questions for Discussion

1) Critically analyse the approach employed in the Jalswarajya project. How is it different from typical
infrastructure projects?

2) Analyse the stakeholder management exercise in the project.

3) Based upon the case contents, support the contention that the primary reason for the Jalswarajya project’s
success is the application of project management techniques.

4) Consider yourself a project dDirector of the Jalswarajya project. Develop the project charter.

on

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 Appendix 3: Mandatory Priorities that Make Jalswarajya Project Work
The government resolution (GR RWS 1099/CR-328/WS-07, dt. Jul 27, 2000) clearly mandated the following
preconditions for launch of a Jalswarajya project in the villages
1. Provision of minimum 40 LPCD
2. Selection norms were to be described
3. Priority population – SC/ST, those who received bad quality of water, less than 40 LPCD existing supply,
schools and day crèches
4. Community participation – 10 percent in project capital and 100 percent in operations and
maintenance etc.
5. Women participation
6. Creation of a district O&M fund
7. Water quality management and surveillance
8. Hydraulic rigs and hydro-fracturing units
9. Human resource development- for training at grassroots level
10. Use of media
11. Monitoring and evaluation
12. Management Information System (MIS)– to monitor local level data
13. Schools to be provided safe drinking water

Appendix 4: Project Non-Negotiables

The project identified certain non-negotiable principles to guide the community and other partners in project
implementation.
1. All project related decisions were to be the prerogative of the gram sabha
2. Cost effectiveness, affordability, and manageability were prime considerations for the selection of solutions
3. No hierarchies in the project institutional model. All were to act in the capacity of partners in the community
4. All project related information and project records to be accessible to everyone in the community
5. The project was to meet the minimum water supply requirements of everyone in the village. Direct house
connections were to be given only after the 40 LPCD demand of everyone in the village was met.
6. Higher contribution of both capital expenses and O&M expenses for higher service levels – 100% of cost of
investment and O&M was to be borne by beneficiaries for service levels above 40 LPCD.
7. Women considered the most important stakeholders of the project. Women gram sabha must precede
general gram sabha
8. No extraction of water from the source without recharge and source augmentation actions.
9. All committee members are accountable to Gram Sabha and SAC, monitors all project activities
on behalf of GS.
10. VP owns the water supply assets and the community manages it through VWSC.

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Fig A.1: Community Involvement in Project Phase

Fig A.2: Satisfaction Level Based on Outcome

Fig A.3: Present Status of Water Supply Scheme

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