ABSTRACT
New institutional economics offers a useful framework for analyzing the issues related to Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM). This chapter assesses the institutional arrangements of PIM in South Asia using P. G. Pagan’s institutional design principles and examines the reasons for the poor performance of irrigation management. The design criteria include clear objectives, interconnection with other formal and informal institutions, adaptiveness and appropriateness of scale and compliance capacity. The policy involved part or full transfer of management of the irrigation systems to Water User Associations (WUAs). The main goals of the policy were to improve the productivity of irrigated agriculture, and to reduce government expenditure on the operation and maintenance of irrigation systems. In India, many states including Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra initially passed legislations to promote PIM. In Sri Lanka, attempts to upscale the unique success of PIM have failed spectacularly. The village irrigation schemes have a long tradition of user management.
