1 Introduction 2 1.1 Rationale and Background 2 1.2 Jalanidhi Project A brief 4 1.3 Need of the study 5 1.4 Aim 6 1.5 Objectives of the Research 6 1.6 Methodology and Database 6 1.6.2 Social development parameters 10 1.6.3 Initial site visit 14 1.7 Studies available on JalanidhiProject 15 1.8 Scope and limitations 15 1.9 Scheme of Chapterization 16 2 Rural water supply and its development in Kerala 19 2.1 Introduction 19 2.2 National Context of RWSS Sector 19 2.3 Government of India Programmes – National and State 19 2.3.1 Sector Reform 21 2.3.2 SWAJALDHARA Programme 22 2.3.3 National Framework of the RWSS Sector 23 2.4 Water resource in Kerala 24 2.4.1 Drinking Water Supply Coverage 25 2.5 Rural Water Supply and Sanitation in Kerala Policy, Regulatory Framework and Programme 27 2.5.1 State Framework 27 2.5.2 Sector Institutions 28 2.5.3 Water Supply Schemes in Operation 29 2.5.4 Centralized water supply model to decentralized approach 31 2.5.5 Panchayat Raj Institution’s role in decentralization 31 2.5.6 Comparison of Swajaldhara, LSGI water supply and Jalanidhi projects in Kerala 32 2.6 Conclusions from the rural water supply sector study 33 3 Literature Review: Theories on Decentralization, Social Development and Role of Community Organizations in rural development 35 3.1 Introduction 35 3.2 Social development 35 3.2.1 Indices of Social Development 36 3.2.2 What is the difference between ‘social institutions’ and ‘social capital’? 37 3.2.3 Social Institutions and Political Institutions 38 3.2.4 Measuring Social Institutions 39 3.2.5 Perceptionsbased indicators as measures of social institutions and its reliability 40 3.3 Decentralization in Kerala 41 3.4 Community Organization and Rural Development 42 3.4.1 Studies from successful Asian examples of cooperatives 43 3.5 Conclusion on from literature review 45 4 Evaluation and Analysis of the Jalanidhi Model and its Components 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.2 The Grampanchayats selected for the research 48 4.2.1 NoolpuzhaGP 49 4.2.2 SholayoorGP 50 4.2.3 Thiruwilvamala GP 51 4.2.4 MarayoorGP 53 4.3 Jalanidhi Project an individual’s perspective 54 4.4 Social development analysis 57 4.4.1 Civic Activism 57 4.4.2 Clubs and Associations 59 4.4.3 Inter Group Cohesion61 4.4.4 Interpersonal Safety and Trust 61 4.4.5 Gender Equality and Social Equity 63 4.5 COMPONENT ANALYSIS 65 4.5.1 Component (A) Institution Building 65 4.5.2 Component B Community Development & Infrastructure Building 67 4.5.3 Component C Statewide Sector Development 67 5 Major Conclusion and Findings 69 5.1 Project vsProgramme approach 69 5.2 Issues in participation aspect of the project 70 5.3 Rural development a challenge 71 5.4 Citizen Participation: An analysis using Arnstein’s theory 72