ABSTRACT
This chapter develops two themes that provide insights into the future trajectories of development of the community management model in India. It first expands the discussion and analysis of community management in multi-village schemes (MVSs) and second examines institutional change in public health engineering departments (PHEDs). As India's states advance along the economic transition curve, the chapter shows how the conventional community management model for rural water supply is being challenged by a move to more technically sophisticated MVSs. The chapter also examines this trend by presenting three cases from the richer states of Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat reflecting different intensities of what may be called a 'utilitisation' of rural water supply. The switch to surface water means the technical design of rural water supply schemes is becoming more sophisticated, involving water treatment processes and large piped networks, and a general trend towards MVSs.
