<P> Most rural water supply schemes in India use a centralised, supply - driven approach, i.e. a government institution designs a project and has it built with little community consultation and no capacity building for the community, often requiring no water fees to be paid for its subsequent operation . Since 2002 the Government of India has rolled out at the national level a program to change the way in which water and sanitation services are supported in rural areas . The program, called Swajaldhara, decentralises service delivery responsibility to rural local governments and user groups . Under the new approach communities are being consulted and trained, and users agree up - front to pay a tariff that is set at a level sufficiently high to cover operation and maintenance costs . It also includes measures to promote sanitation and to improve hygiene behaviour . The national program follows a pilot program launched in 1999 . </P> <P> According to a 2008 World Bank study in 10 Indian states, Swajaldhara results in lower capital costs, lower administrative costs and better service quality compared to the supply - driven approach . In particular, the study found that the average full cost of supply - driven schemes is ₹ 38 (59.3 ¢ US) per cubic meter, while it is only ₹ 26 (40.5 ¢ US) per cubic meter for demand - driven schemes . These costs include capital, operation and maintenance costs, administrative costs and coping costs incurred by users of malfunctioning systems . Coping costs include travelling long distances to obtain water, standing in long queues, storing water and repairing failed systems . Among the surveyed systems that were built using supply - driven approach system breakdowns were common, the quantity and quality of water supply were less than foreseen in designs, and 30% of households did not get daily supply in summer . The poor functioning of one system sometimes leads to the construction of another system, so that about 30% of households surveyed were served by several systems . As of 2008 only about 10% of rural water schemes built in India used a demand - driven approach . Since water users have to pay lower or no tariffs under the supply - driven approach, this discourages them to opt for a demand - driven approach, even if the likelihood of the systems operating on a sustainable basis is higher under a demand - driven approach . </P> <P> In the cities of Hubli, Belgaum and Gulbarga in the state of Karnataka, the private operator Veolia increased water supply from once every 2--15 days for 1--2 hours, to 24 hours per day for 180,000 people (12% of the population of the 3 cities) within 2 years (2006--2008). This was achieved by carefully selecting and ring - fencing demonstration zones (one in each city), renovating the distribution network, installing meters, introducing a well - functioning commercial system, and effective grass - roots social intermediation by an NGO, all without increasing the amount of bulk water supplied . The project, known by its acronym as KUWASIP (Karnataka Urban Water Sector Improvement Project), was supported by a US $39.5 million loan from the World Bank . It constitutes a milestone for India, where no large city so far has achieved continuous water supply . The project is expected to be scaled - up to cover the entire area of the three cities . </P> <P> In Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu, the NGO Gramalaya, established in 1987, and women self - help groups promote access to water supply and sanitation by the poor through microcredit . Among the benefits are that women can spend more time with their children, earn additional income, and sell surplus water to neighbours . This money contributes to her repayment of the WaterCredit loan . The initiative is supported by the US - based non-profit Water Partners International . </P>

Objectives of national water supply and sanitation programme in india