Mobilisation of the Community Contribution

Although community contribution is taken to be the cornerstone of the Demand Responsive Approach, this is not as simple as it sounds. In Chittoor, for example, the Chittoor Water and Sanitation Society (CWSS) found that it was better to get even 2-3% contribution and start the work - rather than insist on 10% right at the beginning.

The 21 first phase habitations were purposely chosen to be the most difficult and poor habitations, and it was not fair to insist on 10% from them - even before they had seen the benefits of the proposed water supply.

Instead, they chose to focus their efforts on mobilizing the community contribution during the Implementation stage.

There is also another problem with asking for the entire 10% community contribution towards capital cost at the Planning Stage, before the Detailed Scheme Report is completed, and that is - how do communities know how much the 10% is going to be?

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