Women and Water Issues in Gujarat, India

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

The majority of villages of Gujarat, India, are in water stress conditions and conflicts over water are common. In reference to the strategic and practical gender needs, this paper delineates women's issues in water management. Based on empirical work done in 2003 in villages of Gujarat, the paper highlights women's roles as domestic water managers. It also discusses the institutional issues vis-a-vis women's involvement in water management. Participatory appraisal techniques encompassing survey of respondents, participant observation and focus group discussion were used to generate primary data. The findings suggest that rural women are the ones to suffer from the ever-increasing scarcity of water in rural areas, since providing domestic water is their domain. Access to water in rural areas is dominated by gender inequality on top of caste and class based discrimination. Importance of institutional assistance in enhancing women's status and reducing their drudgery is also exhibited in the paper. The paper recommends that women's productive and domestic uses of water be well acknowledged. Rural water allocation policy regimes should ensure equitable access to adequate water to all users. In order to allow both men and women to have their say and stake in water resource management, appropriate institutional and policy environment is needed.