Women panchayat leaders gathered in New Delhi to raise their voice against the government’s inaction on the fast-depleting groundwater resources in the country. In most parts of the country, underground water is either not drinkable or can’t be used for irrigation, said few of the women panchayat leaders participating in the conference organised by Delhi based think tank Institute of Social Sciences (ISS).

“Water is a political issue and women face maximum problem due to the crisis,” said Krishan Swarup Gorakhpuria, former member zilla parishad, Fathehabad, Haryana. A study paper released by the ISS said, “Among children below 15 years of age, female children were four times more likely to collect water than the male children.”

The absence of safe drinking water has its implication on women and child development. “It is also reported that in 81 percent of the households which do not have drinking water in their premises, it is the adult female who fetches the water,” said the ISS paper titled ‘Panchayats, Women and Safe Drinking Water.’

However, there were few shining examples of how few women sarpanchs fought their own way to solve the water problem in the village. Through water harvesting and rotation of water supply to the residents of village, a dalit sarpanch Rukmini Devi of Vijaypura village, Rajsamand of Rajasthan solved the problem. She told Governance Now that she brought honest and transparent policy in her administration against different odds in the village. Last year when she was elected, Rukmini Devi spent just Rs 2200 during elections. She was awarded 'outstanding woman panchayat leaders award' by ISS.

Chhavi Rajawat, sarpanch, Soda village in Rajasthan narrated her own difficulty and government’s apathy in desilting reservoir in her village. “It is better for the village panchayats to store water at any cost,” said Rajawat.

“There should be training and technical support for women and especially women panchayat leaders,” said Agatha Sangma, minister of state for rural development during the conference.

The eleventh five year plan (2007-12) has also raised the concern of poor quality of water resulting in health concerns. The report said, “2.17 lakh habitations are affected in terms of quality.” However, in the twelfth five year plan (2012-17), government plans to introduce massive reforms in the water sector.

The conference has been annually held by ISS to mark “Women’s Political Empowerment Day” on April 24.