A Research Report on

“Indian Women as Water

Managers”
Submitted to
Saptam Patel
By
Group 10 | Section 8 | Water Studio
Group Members:
Name of the Student Enrollment No.
Dharmin Lunagariya AU1910049
Mansi Shah AU1910338
Shyam Padaliya AU1910083
Devika Jhala AU1910191
Dwija Panwar AU1920060
Khushi Tanna AU1910162

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Acknowledgment:
We would like to express our special thanks of gratitude to our professors like Professor Shefali
Naik who have guided us to accomplish this report with her technological expertise. We would
like to acknowledge all those who have helped complete this report successfully.

Table of Contents
Abstract: 3
Introduction: 3
Objectives: 4
Outcomes: 4
Methodology: 4
Background: 5
1.1 Gujarat 5
1.2 Rajasthan 6
1.3 Madhya Pradesh - A Case Study 6
1.4 Maharashtra 7
1.5 Uttar Pradesh 8
1.6 Southern States 8
1.7 Steps taken by the Indian Government to Eradicate Water Crisis in different states of India: 9
1.8 Steps taken by the United Nations to Eradicate Water-related Gender Issues: 10
1.8.1 WASH- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene: 10
Analysis: 13
Conclusion: 16
Key Learnings: 16
Domain Topics: 18
List of Figures: 19
References: 21

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Abstract:
Water and Gender have become the rising hotspots in today's modern era of equality and equity
amongst genders. A common stereotype of feminine gender dealing with water management
issues has pushed the females into the troublesome situation of facing severe problems while
collecting and managing water-related problems. This matter has gained popularity in the global
scenario and urges us to resolve it as soon as possible. Since 2010 the United Nations (UN)
general assembly has recognized safe and clean drinking water as a human right. Water is
undeniably associated with social dynamics including gender roles due to its social significance.
The use and storage of water are historically related to women in private, home domains, and
water governance are associated with men in the public and money spheres. The following report
addresses the gender-related issues of water management in India such as inequality between the
genders in the distribution of works, stereotypes surrounding women and the problem faced
and/or still being faced when they collect and use water be it urban area or a rural area and
analyzes these issues to identify the solutions. The comparison of water-related gender issues
between different generations of women is done through personal interviews, to come up with
practical solutions to these problems. With the help of certain studies done for some states in
India, the report identifies the similarities and differences in the conditions of these states. The
identification, analysis, and comparison of water and gender roles are very important as in
today's era women are being educated to have equal rights as that of men.
Keywords: Water, Gender Roles, Indian Women, Water Management, Redressal

Introduction:
Gender and Water refer to different roles of men and women concerning supplying different
water-related demands. Water and women are commonly used as relative terms as women are the
ones who look after the domestic needs of the family and cater to the water-related needs too
which is a part of the domestic needs of individuals. Women were given a title of “Water
Managers” in a conference of the United Nations held in Argentina when water crisis became a
prominent issue due to scarcity of water and women were the only ones who became the major
victims of this scarcity as they were the individuals who looked after water needs and faced
health issues in return of their service (Nandita Singh 2009). Since the declaration of this post,
the issue has gained the attention of several international and national agencies whose agendas
have been a major contributor to addressing the problems that women have to undergo.
Furthermore, the conferences held thereafter dealt with the modification of the stereotype into a
dual side approach where both men and women participate in the sustainable use of scarce water
resources and have an equal voice. In India, a major chunk of the rural sectors has been targeted
where women were the victims of several stereotypes and inequality issues due to lack of
education and open-mindedness. Nearly 88.4% of the rural habitations were provided with
advanced water technology which provided clean water to the needy in proximity to their houses
(Nandita Singh 2009). However, the problem persists amongst the rural and urban

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neighborhoods where people tend to follow ancient traditions and cultures of women commuting
at distant places for fetching water leading to several other health-related consequences.

Objectives:
The motives behind following this topic are mentioned below:
● Try to explore the relationship between water and gender in India.
● Study and understand the issues faced by women in India as water managers
● Spread awareness regarding the relation of water and gender issues and learn the cones of
the same so that the issues could be dealt with productively.
● Analyze and derive conclusions from the timeline of women and their efforts as water
managers in India
● Study the contribution of women in the field of water management. 

Outcomes:
● Being able to know about the different steps taken by different organizations and the
governments to tackle the issue and provide improvements and suggestions on it. 
● Being able to distinguish between the difficulties women faced throughout the timespan
for their empowerment through water-related tasks.
● Being able to define the gender discrimination and stereotypic mentality of the population
in brief with the reference of water.
● Compare the issues that women have to undergo across different generations when water
management is considered.

Methodology:
The topic aims to showcase a timeline of how women have shown dedication towards solving
water-related problems. It aims to compare the different methods used by women to solve their
daily water-related problems in the past, present, and future. The report will try to demonstrate
the development of solutions and compare and contrast the urban and rural scenarios. It would
describe how women in urban and rural areas seek redressal for their water-related problems.
These problems are vented amongst a group of women which becomes a way of socializing. The
study aims to show a social perspective of women's water-related issues to the readers. A
comparative study for the same would be proposed in the report. It also talks about the
technology used in urban places and a lack of technology in rural areas which is a part of the
comparative study itself. The topic also revolves around how the UN has helped women
concerning the following issue and will showcase the steps and conferences held by the UN
concerning this. The report would also comprise opinions and suggestions regarding some
measures taken to solve the issue of water-related problems.
This report is a conglomeration of primary as well as secondary data. The report uses secondary
sources such as official sites of the United Nations, case studies, and journals published by
educationalists. Primary data has been collected by interviewing people of almost all generations
to understand water-related issues over time. Thus, the research methods both primary and

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secondary, used in this research aim to analyze, evaluate, and compare the argument with the
evidence derived from these research methods.
The analysis section of the report is region-specific, India is the region. The report covers a
major portion of states and cities that face water and gender concerning issues in the northern
part of the country. The main reason for not including other states is due to the lesser intensity of
the problem there. Hence, regions like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, etc. have been considered
which are facing acute water scarcity and many other difficulties about water and the status of
women as compared to any southern or eastern state where rainfall is sufficient as well as they
have been adopting water harvesting methods since a while and are doing comparably well in
terms of water collection and management. The states described in the report face the highest
amount of scarcity of water as seen in the figure below where the shaded portion in brown shows
the regions facing water scarcity which happens to be majorly in the states of Rajasthan, Gujarat,
Maharashtra, etc. However, the report also describes the southern region scenario in a nutshell
which describes the issues faced by women in the region despite having sufficient water.

Water Scarcity in India

Background:
The earth is the sphere that comprises a variety of natural resources one of which being water
which serves the core of the existence of human life on the planet. However, the distribution of
water seems to be unequal on the surface of the earth, and thus, different parts of the globe face
water crisis due to a scarcity of availability of water in the region. Narrowing down the aspect
and taking into consideration a specific country gives a magnified view of the unequal
distribution of water amongst a single country. For instance, India is one such country wherein
different parts receive a varying proportion of water.
Different states of India receive a varying proportion of water due to its location in proximity to
deserted areas or on the leeward side of mountain ranges. These states of India also receive
uneven rainfall which is one of the most important reasons for these regions to face water
scarcity. Some of the examples of such states are being discussed in detail below. It tries to
explain the issues that women face due to water scarcity.

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1.1 Gujarat
According to research conducted by Bhawana Upadhyay on Gender roles and multiple uses of
water in northern Gujarat (2004), in Gujarat women are almost exclusively responsible for
domestic chores and keeping their households hygienic. Poor women are overwhelmingly
responsible for unpaid fetching water duty for household uses. Water shortage has a direct effect
on the time spent by women and girls in gathering water and hence on the availability of their
time for other jobs as well as their access to water within the household. Across both source and
non-source communities, women are found to be sustainably involved in the rearing of livestock.
Taking this into consideration it could be noted that the female to male contribution and
involvement ratio happens to be 70:30. Likewise, women’s overall participation in irrigated
farming is greater than that of male counterparts in the source village. It can also be concluded
that, if the water supply is improved it not only will save time to collect water previously
expended by women but also decrease drudgery by women (Naz 2016).
1.2 Rajasthan
Considering Rajasthan, less than 20% of the houses have water supplies within their houses and
this supplies mainly being outdoor hand pumps and wells (Census of India, 2001). Operating
through the complexities of tackling women’s involvement in water resources in Rajasthan is
therefore of particular importance. Women form the core of the agricultural sector in India,
however, they lack decision making power and the power to bargain when the pricing of water
for selling in Mathnaa’s (a village in Gujarat) informal groundwater market is taken into
consideration (Naz 2016).

Figure 1Water Crisis in Rajasthan

1.3 Madhya Pradesh - A Case Study

Madhya Pradesh is an area prone to droughts frequently and according to the climate change
assessment results, it was proved that Madhya Pradesh would witness a decline in its
precipitation rate from the years 1951-2013. The reports also show that Madhya Pradesh would
also be experiencing a rise in annual mean temperature by 1-2 ⁰C which would further raise the

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air temperature. The condition is worsening regularly and thus, people have come up with water
harvesting and management techniques to cater to their demand for water (Vimal Mishra 2016).
One such initiative is mentioned below:
The case study is about the Jal Sahelis, in the state of Madhya Pradesh. Water shortage is at its
peak in summers. Women have to walk miles to collect freshwater and carry heavy loads of
water containers on their way back due to which they suffer from spine injuries. Moreover, their
body posture is reshaped into a bent one. Following the ancient rituals, some villages also send
small girls to fetch water at the cost of sacrificing their education. Furthermore, the water may or
may not be safe for drinking due to which diseases like typhoid, fever, headaches, intestinal
bacterial growth, etc. are common.
The Jal Sahelis came up with a solution. They undertook an initiative to dig out a 2-acre pond
which was on the verge of drying and construct a check dam to reserve water in it before the
arrival of monsoon. Check dams reserve excess water flow during monsoon. It helped rejuvenate
the groundwater level as the creation of pressure in the catchment area produced a force that
helped restore a higher groundwater level. “Our hard work got recognition in the following
summer when the check dam we built, recharged wells and hand pumps met the water needs of
the entire village, including our farms and cattle,” said Devwati Sharma, a Jal Saheli. This step
was a stepping stone towards the social and economic development of the village.
This group of powerful women has left no stone unturned to spread awareness regarding the
importance of water and the rights of women. They have been working as social workers for
more than five years now and have developed a professional attitude towards their job of
working for women empowerment and fighting for their rights.
It is the females who bear a lot of hardship in Bundelkhand because of water shortage. The
collection of water and looking after its management is a task that is completely handled by
women. Thus, women are amongst the first individuals who can access this water. And its
women who can ensure water security for the community and they have rightly proved by
bringing in all these life-saving revolutions. They have suffered and this is one of the antibiotics
for their sufferance (Srivastava N.D.).

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 Figure 2 Jal Sahelis

1.4 Maharashtra
Maharashtra has seen multiple droughts and famines in past decades and the state is no stranger
to women facing water problems. Due to the draughts and water shortage in villages, men
adopted the system of polygamy. The name 'Water wives' was given to a woman who marries a
man for collecting water for the household. Such practices are still prominent in the village of
Denganmal. Cases of domestic violence, removed uterus, and miscarriage were reported by
women in Maharashtra due to a lack of drinking water. Upon interview with women in
Maharashtra, they revealed how their husbands hit them when they came empty-handed at the
times of drought. Dr. Dhruv Mankad, who is a doctor in rural Maharashtra said that water
collection has caused severe problems in the spine of women, and has also observed low birth
weight in drought-prone areas. Cases of cancer, ulcers, and uterus prolapse were also seen in
women having an age of 25-30 years which is highly unlikely in a healthy body state. Water is a
permanent problem in rural India, and all the cases strongly suggest how gender stereotyping and
schematic behavior affects the health and wellbeing of women (Deshpande 2019).

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 Figure 3 Woman carrying vessels for fetching water amidst drought in Maharashtra

1.5 Uttar Pradesh

Uttar Pradesh is one of the most highly affected states in the country when we talk about the
water crisis. The analysis shows that to date Uttar Pradesh fails to have piped water supply in the
state. Most of the population of Uttar Pradesh depends on either their private tube wells or water
pumps for their daily water needs. Uttar Pradesh ranks lower in the country in the context of
household sanitation and drainage services. The Census 2001 says that in total there are 2.58
crores of households in the state out of which only 28% of households have the facilities of
toilets in their household. This shows how women in the state are highly affected because of the
water problems there. Because of the unavailability of piped water, a lot of women have to travel
and carry water from the tube wells and water pumps whether it's near or far from houses.
Bundelkhand is a hilly area between Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh wherein most of the
villages witness frequent droughts and water crises happen every year. There is no facility or
technology introduced there which can solve their problems and eventually women have to suffer
as they have to spend a time of four to five hours daily to go, find and gather drinking water for
the family. It is believed that the women there are left with no work other than collecting water
for their families. Due to this duty their leisure hours, education, etc. have to be sacrificed (Portal
2019).

1.6 Southern States

Chennai and Bangalore are the most prominent cities having severe water scarcity in the year
2019. In Chennai, the shortage of water affected the entire city of 9 million people and it caused
the closure of several hotels, restaurants, and businesses. As the government is not able to meet
the water requirement, people rely more on water tankers. Even water tankers are facing
difficulty entering the city. Women are required to wait in queues for extracting water using a
wooden ladle from a 12 feet deep pit situated on the river bed of river Gundar in Tamil Nadu.
Bangalore and Chennai are likely to run out of groundwater in 2020. Bangalore has gone from
the city of lakes to the city of concrete and rising urbanization is causing more water-related
problems. The BWSSB (Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board) provides nearly 60% of
water to the city which is not enough to satisfy the population of nearly 12 million people. Also,
there are frequent fights amongst women who go to collect water from the water tankers as the

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supply is limited and the need is unlimited. Thus, the scenario in the south is worse than in any
other parts of India as it also involves politics within it (Qureshi 2017).
Governments, as well as International Organizations like the United Nations, have been working
to provide solutions to these water-related issues faced by different states of India. While these
states have been working at a lower level by implementing their domestic ways to resolve their
water-related problems, the government and the United Nations have been aiding these states so
that the solutions could be reached at a faster pace thereby lowering down the sufferance that
women especially have to undergo.
1.7 Steps taken by the Indian Government to Eradicate Water Crisis in different states of
India:
There are many steps taken by the Indian government to solve the water-related problems in the
country. The government has also established National Water Policies in the years 1987, 2002,
and 2012 of which one of the goals to create social equality. Though there was no clear mention
and reference given for solving the water crisis of women. However, in the later years, many
steps were taken by the government to solve the water crisis in many states which have somehow
benefitted women. In the year 2014, the agency named Water and Sanitation Management
Organization (WASMO) with the help of other NGOs and communities took an initiative to
provide pure and clean drinking water to the communities residing in villages. As a result of
which 76.84% of the rural household in the state are benefitted by getting easy access to pure
drinking water which has helped women in certain ways as they don’t have to walk far away
from villages to get drinking water which in a way saves their time and allows them to pay more
attention towards education and other work. Also, safety in terms of the health of women and
their family are maintained as they can drink clean water. This has also led to a reduction in the
number of people suffering from water-borne diseases. Later in a village named Chinchojhar in
Valsad district of Gujarat state undertook an initiative under the Swajaldhara program in which a
tank for water collection was built in the village meters above with a capacity of storing 10,000
liters which helped the women to solve the problem where they had to travel far away to fetch
water as there was only one well which got dry in summer which worsened the situation further.
However, this initiative of the government at the village level also known as the village
panchayats helped the residents and eased out their tasks of managing water issues especially for
women. This also helped to reduce health risks in the village. These were some examples of
government-driven measures at different levels of governance taken to eradicate water crisis in
regions facing water scarcity which in turn aided women to overcome their problems which they
faced while collecting and managing water needs of the households (Ayog 2017).
According to a report published by the UN World Water Assessment Program said that the
national government lacks in the collection of accurate data and the gender disinterested data on
water usage is falling every year. The International Fund for Agricultural Development said that
the lack of gender-specific data provided by the government is majorly the reason for, “the gap
between policy commitments on water and gender and actual practice". A survey conducted by

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the Indian Human Development Survey provides us with gender disinterested data after all the
water policy inaction which showed that a woman spends 66 minutes, a girl spends 12 minutes
fetching water while a men spend 29 minutes and a boy spend 7 minutes fetching water which
was half of that what women and girls spend (Ragini 2016).

Figure 4 Graphical representation of Water and Gender Statistics

The Indian government has taken an initiative to form water associations which are organizations
that look after the issue of water availability and management in different parts of the country.
However, this initiative fails to fulfill its objective due to a lack of women representatives in the
association and the increase in the number of informal groundwater markets in India. Moreover,
the National Water Policy aims at increasing the water availability in water-scarce regions and
neglects the inclusion of working on the issue of lack of access to water resources or the
unreliable conditions of access to water which contributes towards the difficulties faced by
women as they are required to walk long distances to fetch water. Additionally, water rights are
located inland instead of land users. This excludes people who are landless, the poor in general
and poor women in particular. This has marginalized the position of women in Indian society
where women have no control over the property and cannot pay.
1.8 Steps taken by the United Nations to Eradicate Water-related Gender Issues:
1.8.1 WASH- Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene:
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene are collectively termed as WASH. These three key issues are
grouped to represent a rising sector because of their interdependent existence. Although each of
these issues has a specific area of operation, each relies on the other's presence. UNICEF's
WASH research strives primarily to ensure that all children exercise this right and that they are
not left behind. This right must be upheld. Within international development, WASH is a crucial
public health concern and is the priority of Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6).
As primary consumers, suppliers and administrators are water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH)
at the household level, unequal responsibility for women and girls has yet to be balanced by a
proportionate role in WASH-related decision making. While women have long been urged to
participate in water governance and promote safe sanitation, this commitment has not always

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interpreted into better services for themselves, decisions on water issues such as large scale
infrastructure investments, water trading mainly remain gender blind.

Lack of safe water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) facilities may expose women to disease,
harassment, and violence, affecting their ability to attend school, earn income, and move about
freely. Where house members fall sick from water-borne diseases, it is mostly women and girls
who provide the much-needed treatment. Making WASH gender-sensitive ensures that women
and girls actively participate in decision making, both from neglected semi-urban and urban
areas as well as isolated and rural areas (N.D., UNICEF 2016).

UN Women are putting in efforts to find the connection between water and jobs, which has direct
significance with gender equality and women empowerment. Water scarcity is a persisting
problem in most parts of the world, “women and girls walk for hours everyday to fetch water for
their families, for cooking, and for their cattle to drink” (Regnér 2018). Secondly, instances such
as earthquakes and droughts worsen the problem even more, which calls for urgent solutions to
combat the catastrophe. Therefore, UN women-supported assembler SAATHI arranges
leadership related workshops to specifically empower young women to find solutions to water
poverty. They mobilize funds for the construction of taps, for the creation of private bathing
spaces, provisions to reuse water for irrigation, etc. The members of this community have
strongly consented that no woman or school going child should have to walk miles for the
collection of water.

Also, in drought-stricken areas UN women have taken the responsibility to up-skill 60

hired-hands and more with the national drought management authority, to cater to gender
concerning issues during the times of drought. Recovery phases and related programs take
utmost care of the fact that it is gender-responsive and takes care of provisions for sanitation for
women and children during the times of drought. These are namely a few steps, more
arrangements have been taken to ensure the at least basic and essential water needs while
fighting against this natural calamity (Regnér 2018).

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Figure 5 Global Action Plan of WASH

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 Source: Water Supply and Sanitation Collaborative Council

Analysis:

Water and Gender have been prominently affecting the masses in their daily lives and that is one
of the most obvious reasons for it gaining popularity at a global level. Several statistics
mentioned in the report can be treated as shreds of evidence regarding water and gender
inequality that prevails in the stereotypical society of India where the thought procedures of the
common masses are driven by the stereotypical mindsets. Moreover, the uneven distribution of
water resources over different parts of India adds fuel to the fire and worsens the conditions for
the public. However, the intervention of the government via various policies and plans have tried
to provide relief to the victims but fails to completely solve the problems due to loopholes in the
form of corruption, lengthy channels of communication, etc. It should also be noted that a
majority section of the report is based on secondary data and thus this data has its limitations.
Also, the primary data is limited to an extent due to special circumstances like the outbreak of
the novel pandemic leading to a collection of limited data.
On analyzing the primary data it could be concluded that the years before 2000 faced water
scarcity to a greater extent in various parts of India. However, it is also seen that in some cities
like Rajkot where both the male and females used to work jointly towards dealing with the issue
of water collection and management but this happens to be merely 2 houses out of 10 if
considered at a macro level where husbands enthusiastically helped women in such household
tasks. In the years between 1990 and 2000 several Indian states faced water crisis due to the
occurrences of natural calamities such as droughts which forced people to walk long distances in
search of water and the water generally was unfit for drinking and thus, people used to boil it for
use in cooking and drinking purposes. Also, the non-regularity of the municipality water supply
in different parts of the country added to the already knotty problem. It is also seen that the
majority of the time it was women who used to go fetch water for their families as they were the
ones who were responsible for the household duties.
Post-1990, the situation improved to an extent with the availability of piped water supply across
different states which made the tasks of women easier and saved their time and energy which
was then used for productive purposes such as education and other co-curricular activities. It
should be noted that some parts of India still lacked such facilities and continued to face
water-related gender issues. However, it should also be noted that according to a statistics, from
the year 2008 to 2012 there was an increase in the number of urban households as well who used
to walk 0.2-0.5 km of distance daily for collecting safe drinking water due to a reduction in the
groundwater level because of excessive use of the same by a huge number of people. (Ragini
2016) Post-2010, there were urban as well as rural households who faced water scarcity due to
the unavailability of regular municipality water service. It was highly observed in developing and
underdeveloped cities and villages respectively. On the contrary, some developed cities such as
Ahmedabad, Rajkot, etc. had a regular supply of water from the respective municipalities. But it
should also be noted that several parts of these cities too faced water scarcity due to the

14
municipalities which were not able to reach out to the entire city. Coming to the present day,
there are many cities and states which still face issues in terms of availability of water supply
regularly and access to safe and clean drinking water. Additionally, it is also seen that in majority
parts of India, women still happen to be the individuals who are bearing the load of water
collection and management which is a part of their household duties according to the masses.
Areas of Gujarat were prone to a natural calamity in the form of drought during the 2000s which
was one of the reasons for Gujarat facing scarcity of water. Women and children died for every
sip of water amidst the arid regions of Gujarat like Dahod, Mahudi, and so on which witnessed
the drying of river beds due to which masses were forced to dig holes in the dry riverbed of river
Sukhi. “This is the worst drought I have ever seen in my life,” says the 48-year-old Bhilwad
(N.D., 1999-2000 Drought 2000). This drought witnessed by Gujarat impacted its residents at a
level where people succumbed to the death of thirst and hunger. Water scarcity became a
political agenda during the general elections held in the year 2000. The district magistrate of
Rajkot had to say that there is a limit to which the government can pour in help through water
tankers and the conditions would worsen if it didn't rain by the first week of October (N.D.,
1999-2000 Drought 2000).
The same is the situation in Bihar at the moment when groundwater is depleting at a faster rate
due to the increasing population. This will result in limited access to safe drinking water to the
residents of Bihar (Mishra 2019). Thus, it could be noted that water scarcity adds to the problems
of women especially when water management is considered and the issue prevails for years in
Indian society.
However, the primary, as well as the secondary data, have their limitations which raises other
questions which are listed below:
a. Why only women are the ones who look after the domestic water needs of the
family?
b. Can water and gender issues be removed from the roots?
c. What other steps can be taken by the authorities to deal with the issue at a faster
pace?
All such questions provoke and demand research in the respective fields to reach upon an
answer. It could also be analyzed that different parts of India need to be dealt with differently due
to varied cultures, traditions, and beliefs of the masses residing there so that the solutions could
be reached upon by the joint effort of both the masses and the governmental organizations.

15
Figure 6 Timeline Representing the relationship between women and water and advancements
in the relationship.

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Conclusion:
Water management includes men and women as individuals, families, and the public, requiring
as much attention to human understanding and competency as to facilities and technology. The
primary feature of water management is water usage and energy conservation. This report
focuses on the role of Indian women as water managers and the relationship between gender and
water in India. The results indicate how the roles of women and men have changed throughout
the past 10 years and how the changes in society affected the participants who were mainly
women. It could be concluded that women had suffered in the past and are still suffering in the
present due to water scarcity and stereotypic mentality of the masses. Moreover, the loopholes in
the governmental system fail to achieve its objective of providing benefits to women when water
management is considered as an agenda. The report discloses the condition of women in the
current scenario and compares it with the past and reaches to the conclusion that women are the
water managers of their households who single-handedly look after the domestic need of water
for their families which include collecting water for drinking, bathing, washing, cooking, etc. in
a majority of the cases discussed in the report. Women have come up with solutions like water
harvesting techniques which involve the building of check dams and catchment areas which aid
them by making water available easily. Additionally, organizations like the United Nations have
undertaken an initiative to provide relief to women and children in the form of campaigns like
WASH. Thus, from the above report, it could be concluded that water management and women
are relatable terms often used jointly. However, the water managers are the ones who are the
victims of their title as "Water Managers".

Key Learnings:
● Gender roles in access and management of water- women are the main consumers of
water for household use, agricultural work, health, and hygiene while men usually have
power over the budget and planning which should not be the case.
● Similarities and differences between water-related gender issues in an urban area and
rural area.
● Water and gender is an issue which is being addressed globally and needs the urgent
attention of the masses to eradicate it from growing.
● Stereotypes and loopholes in the processes and policies are worsening the productive
steps and thereby failing to achieve the final objective.
● It has been women who have been and are suffering from this issue and therefore, there is
an alarming need to change the present so that the future circumstances could be changed
automatically.

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Domain Topics:

The report describes different domains in accordance with the topic under discussion namely,
Indian women as water managers. It describes issues faced by women for collecting and
managing water over a specified time period. It demonstrates the change in the value systems
over time and a change in the way masses behave with a change in time over decades. The report
also mentions the ethics of being a responsible citizen. For instance, an individual is always
encouraged to become a part of campaigns such as WASH which helps the masses to deal with
water-related problems at a global level. A responsible citizen should become a part of such
campaigns and spread awareness regarding saving water and maintaining a sanitized
environment around the dwelling places. The report also describes the changes in human
behavior over time with a change in technology which has made humans more aware and
educated about his/her rights and duties. It has helped overcome the narrow-minded mentality of
people with easy access to information and gaining knowledge. On the contrary, a change in
behavior has also resulted in negative outcomes such as interference in the governmental policies
has led to a failure of the policies to achieve its main objective due to problems such as
corruption, nepotism, etc. Technology has brought about a revolutionary change in the behavior
of humankind which has resulted in the formation of cooperative organizations that work for the
betterment of the society. For instance, the mention of Jal Shaelis in the report describes the
same. It has changed the way people used to see the world. However, the perceptions in some
places still remain the same with the obedience of ancient norms and notions.

The report also touches the biology and life domain to an extent by describing the uneven
distribution of natural resources in India and the sufferings that human life has to undergo due to
the phenomenon. On the contrary, the discussion of materials as a domain is not touched upon.

The report describes the data collection domain widely by involving collecting and analyzing
primary data and representing the same in the form of a timeline. The entire report itself becomes
a part of the communication domain by providing organized information related to “Indian
Women as Water Managers” and allowing the reader to comprehend the findings and arguments
derived from analyzing the primary data. Organization of the primary data in the form of a
timeline also becomes a part of the communication domain. The report refers to credible sources
of information for collecting secondary data including journal articles, published papers, and
newspaper articles.

The report has tried to touch upon all the possible domains of the course. The conglomeration of
all the domains has carved out a report in such a form wherein it describes the different aspects
of the course and tries to achieve the objectives of the course.

18
List of Figures:

Figure Source

Figure-1 Water Scarcity in https://worldwater.io/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=s

India earch&utm_campaign=WaterscarcityData&campaignid=644
4167483&adgroupid=77198318295&adid=376808482554&
gclid=Cj0KCQjwtLT1BRD9ARIsAMH3BtWPvRffy-bv_m
voHPr5eYxYKm25yY7ktpe1sxwW5p_Kg8JcxDKXpHYaA
jMAEALw_wcB

Figure-2 Water Crisis in https://hindi.indiawaterportal.org/content/water-crisis-rajasth

Rajasthan an/content-type-page/53102

Figure-3 Jal Sahelis https://www.firstpost.com/long-reads/jal-sahelis-how-wome

n-across-bundelkhand-are-reviving-water-harvesting-techniq
ues-6548851.html

Figure-4 Woman carrying https://www.news18.com/news/india/pati-is-the-only-param

vessels for fetching water eshwar-tangled-in-gender-roles-how-maharashtra-drought-is
amidst drought in -taking-a-toll-on-women-2219839.html
Maharashtra

Figure-5 Graphical https://www.livemint.com/Politics/5k07wKxfIQE6vMaDmi

representation of Water and 1ewM/Five-charts-that-show-how-women-suffer-the-most-f
Gender Statistics rom-water-s.html

19
Figure-6 Global Action Plan https://www.wsscc.org/resources-feed/water-sanitation-hygi
of WASH ene-wash-health-care-facilities/

Figure-7 Timeline Self-Created

Representing the relationship
between women and water
and advancements in the
relationship.

20
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