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Painted pillars of a house in Uttarakhand, India

India

We're applying grassroots and policy know-how to bring proven district solutions to the attention of state and national level government.

IRC has been active in India for more than four decades with projects managed from IRC headquarters in the Netherlands, and more recently with a growing portfolio of activities on the ground. Our team of two, based in Delhi and led by Ruchika Shiva brings together skills in grassroots and policy influencing. The main focus of our national level work is on understanding financial flows to WASH. Our partner district in India is Ganjam in Odisha State, where we are focusing on one block in particular: Chatrapur. For more information see highlights of our recent work and our 2027-2021 strategy.

 

Access to WASH services: JMP data: basic water 88% | basic sanitation 44% (open defecation 40%) | basic hygiene N/A (source, JMP)

India: WASH partner forums, webinars and thematic discussions

Expert panel at 11th Insights WASH Dialogue and Partnership Forum meeting in New Delhi, India, 26 April 2019

Since 2016, IRC supports and co-organises expert discussions on the WASH sector in India.

 

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COVID-19 WASH response in two Indian states

Foot-operated handwashing station with soap designed by the Aga Khan Foundation (photo credit Aga Khan Foundation)

The Aga Khan Foundation is organising WASH interventions in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in response to the pandemic.

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Watershed empowering citizens programme in India

Chatrapur Block, Ganjam District, Odisha state, India

The Watershed partnership programme (2016-2020) aims to build the capacity of civil society organisations in six countries and also at international level for evidence-based lobbying and advocacy on WASH and water resources management. Read the latest news, blogs and updates about Watershed's activities in India.

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WASH news and events

Webinar announcement banner

Brainstorming on Supporting Panchayats Need for Inclusive Water Supply and Sanitation, 26 Feb 2021, 16:00-17:30 IST

A brainstorming session being conducted by the India Chapter of the Sustainable Sanitation Alliance...
Community members and local government representatives waiting for a meeting to start

Decentralised public financing for WASH in India

Report of an August 2020 webinar with representatives from national, state and local government and...
Schoolgirls washing hands

WASH in schools: learning from winners

A compilation of best practices from Odisha, India.
Webinar logo with organisers

Webinar on O&M opportunities in rural community sanitary complexes

Webinar on World Toilet Day about the enablers and barriers for Community Sanitary Complexes.
Woman cleaning toilet - Odisha, India

Recommendations for greywater management in rural India

Role of technology and local government in waste water management. Expert views from a thematic...
Webinar poster on measuring hand hygiene.

Webinar - Measuring handwashing with soap: The what and how of monitoring and evaluating hand hygiene interventions, 05 November 2020

Last in a series of three webinars of organised on the occasion of Global Handwashing Day 2020...
Urban water operators in India

Promoting efficient and equitable urban WASH services

Performance monitoring and innovative technological and financial solutions help. Report of a...
Women drinks glass of water - Odisha Drink from Tap Mission Communication Strategy cover

A communication strategy for Odisha's Drink from Tap Mission

Women-led Self Help Groups (SHGs) play a central role.
School in Nuapada district, Odisha, India

Water and sanitation budget tracking in rural India

Learn more from four new publications on public finance for community and institutional WASH...
Cover Watershed working paper on budget tracking in Odisha

Helping Indian CSOs do budget tracking

Two new Watershed India working papers draw lessons from research in Bihar and Odisha.
SHG Federation workers of Kanamana Gram Panchayat

Highlights from our focus countries in 2019: India

What impact did we have in our focus countries in 2019? Sharing highlights from IRC's Annual Report...
Inequalities and WASH

Fighting inequalities during COVID: a global discussion

SWA Partner Exchange Forum on "It can't be normal: inequalities in water, sanitation and hygiene...
Srilekha Chakraborty

Announcing the 2020 Ton Schouten Awardee for WASH Storytelling

Srilekha Chakraborty uses art in her activism for women's health.
Participants at the Bihar workshop, February 2020

Holistic planning: a must to ensure sustainable services

Through source security, service provision and waste management, the state of Bihar has used a...
Mayuri Bhattacharjee

The 'lazy woman' speaks, inspires and acts

Stories from Mayuri and reflections on her Ton Schouten Award for WASH Storytelling year.
Meeting in Odisha, India

Assessing institutional capacities for rural water and sanitation

A joint IRC-UNICEF India study across four districts in Odisha.
Panel of the Watershed India workshop in Odisha

Accountability and transparency of and to village councils need improving

A Watershed India workshop looked into the role of the Gram Panchayat (village council) in WASH...
Cover CBGA report in Union Budget 2020-21

Can India meet its new ambitions for sanitation and water?

An analysis of the government's 2020-21 budget shows allocations may not be enough.
Chatrapur Block, Ganjam District, Odisha state, India

A water connection for every home in Odisha’s cities and towns

IRC is providing technical support to UNICEF to help implement the "Drink From Tap" Mission.
Swachh Maharashtra Grand Challenge video clip

Sanitation grand challenge for Indian innovators

Winning solutions will receive grants to implement their models in Chandrapur District, Maharashtra.
Community members in Samastipur district in Bihar identifying WASH needs for proper planning

Snapshots from our focus countries: India

We take you on a journey through highlights of our focus countries, collected for the IRC Annual...
Water vessel and filter used in India

Helping CSOs with WASH governance issues in two states in India

Working papers focusing on the institutional setup and financial flows for WASH in Bihar and Odisha.
India - fetching water from river in Chatrapur block, Ganjam District, Odisha state

How is India's fiscal policy influencing water and sanitation

A new briefing note tracks the state budget allocations for WASH for Bihar and Odisha.

Blogs, podcasts, opinions and more

Handwashing instructions in India

What’s at stake? WASH in times of COVID-19 in India

Guest blogger Srilekha Chakraborty , 2020 winner of the Ton Schouten Award, shares stories from the ground on the pandemic in India.
Female sanitation workers in India (photo R. Shiva)

Health and safety of sanitation workers during the pandemic

On 30 June 2020, WaterAid India and the Urban Management Centre held a webinar on the health, safety and livelihood challenges sanitation workers...
Handwashing device Aga Khan Foundation

COVID-19 WASH response in two Indian states

The Aga Khan Foundation is organising WASH interventions in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar in response to the pandemic.
Woman sitting in front of computer screen in Ganjam district, Odisha, India

Decolonisation of WASH knowledge: addressing institutional bias

COVID-19 and #BlackLivesMatter are a wake-up call for leaders to take a closer look at WASH knowledge generation.
Climate change threatens one of the world's largest mangrove forests, the Sundarbans in West Bengal, India

Message in a red bottle – sending out an SOS

Report of a WASH Debate on climate adaptation.
Waste disposal at healthcare facility in Kabarole, Uganda

Treating medical waste during COVID-19 in the Global South

Is hazardous medical waste sufficiently managed?
Webinar invitation Stakeholder Concerns Testing Sewage for COVID-19

Allaying stakeholder concerns when testing sewage for COVID-19

Report of a webinar organised by the SuSanA India chapter, WaterAid India, IRC and the India Sanitation Coalition.
Women in India holding up sanitary products (Photo credit: Rudrani Ghosh photography)

‘She Makes Change’ if you believe in her

My story of empowerment starts from a toilet, or to be precise the lack of it.
Chatrapur Block, Ganjam District, Odisha state, India

Getting to the root of the problem

Problem tree analysis is a good tool to plan, assess and adapt WASH programmes. Lessons from Watershed India.
Residents of Chintadripet flock around a water truck

Promising piped water for all by 2024: A pipe dream or reality?

The Indian Government is now embarking on another ambitious 'Jal Jeevan Mission', promising piped water to every household in India by 2024.
Two elephants

The invisible elephant at the bottom of the pyramid

What can civil society do to achieve the SDGs?
Dr Kurian Baby on saline inspection in India

Rethinking the SDG funding gap

The SDG financing gap will be history, when natural infrastructure (NI) enters the economics and financing computations.
Lady in Odisha filling water vessels

WASH training in Odisha is too limited

Quality WASH training is only given to state level officials while training at lower levels is sub-standard and sparse.
Kerala river during monsoon

Kerala floods: opportunity for sustainable water management

The unprecedented flood of August 2018 has put Kerala on the spot. Integrated water resources management will have to be a key pillar in managing the...
"Sanitation is more important than independence" - Gandhiji

Can India afford to spend less on rural sanitation?

Budget cuts could prevent the country becoming open defecation free by 2019.
Pride and Shame: Children's painting on menstrual hygiene

Is Bollywood’s Pad Man movie too good to be true?

Checking the facts and assumptions about menstrual hygiene in developing countries.

Useful links

She Makes Change: A Testimonial from W Kamala from Odisha, India (video)

On International Women's Day, 8 March 2020, IRC has been running the City Pier City Loop Den Haag with the goal of raising €2,500 to facilitate women's capacity building workshops in our partner district of Odisha, India.

Length: 1min 39secs

 
Gender equality in Odisha, India (video)

Listen to W. Kamala, president of a women's Self Help Group in Odisha, India, as she speaks out on the importance of gender equality. Promotional clip used in IRC's 2020 #SheMakesChange campaign.

Length: 1 min 40 secs

 
The Future of Village Water Supply: What is the Role of Community Management in the Transition? (video)

On the 3rd of March 2016, a seminar was held at the Australian High Commission in London to present the main findings from the Community Water Plus project on support to community-managed rural water supplies in India. This video contains these presentations.

Length: 53mins

Paradigm shift in approach to household water treatment systems (video)

In this video Urs Heierli, social marketing expert and advisor to the Safe Water II project, talks about the necessary paradigm shift to household water treatment systems.

Length: 5mins 42sec.

WASHCost India pilot (video)

Coordinator, Snehalatha, explains how WASHCost (India) will show the Government of India that collecting data on costs and service levels will strengthen their National Rural Water Supply Guidelines.

Length: 3mins.

Investing in India (video)

In India, 4 billion dollars are annually invested in the rural drinking water sector. Hand pumps, pipes and overhead systems are supplied. But in many villages, sufficient clean drinking water is still far from being an everyday reality. The WASHCost India team gathered data on government investments in water, sanitation and hygiene in 187 villages. The data is used so that government can do proper planning for each of the budget components, against the available funds.

Length: 6mins 15 sec.

Resources

Decentralised public financing for WASH : current situation and needs during and beyond the...
Authors: Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability
Published: 10/2020
Pages: 5 p.
Water, sanitation and hygiene in schools : a journey towards Swachh Odisha
Authors: Khan, M.S., Pandey, V., Rani, M., Shahoo, B.K., Rath, R.P., Kumari, B., Biswal, S., Panigrahi, P., Sen, B.K., Panda, S., Tejeshawar, M., Pujari, S.S, Malbishoyee, P., Panda, G.
Published: 09/2020
Pages: VI, 70 p.
Building resilient WASH systems
Authors: Shiva, R.
Published: 11/2020
Pages: 128-131 : photogr.
Handwashing with soap: technologies and innovations (webinar)
Authors: UNICEF India Country Office, Aga Khan Foundation, WaterAid India, WHO India, IRC
Published: 10/2020
Operation and maintenance opportunities in rural community sanitary complexes : thematic...
Authors: Jacob, N.
Published: 12/2020
Pages: 21 p.
The impact of Watershed on decentralised decision making with inclusion of women : findings from...
Authors: Shiva, R., Saha, S.
Published: 10/2020
Pages: 7 p. : 2 boxes, 6 fig., 3 tab.
Liquid waste management in SBM II : synthesis document
Authors: Jacob, N.
Published: 09/2020
Pages: 15 p. : 1 fig.
Drink from Tap Mission : communication strategy
Authors: IRC, UNICEF India
Published: 10/2020
Pages: 26 p. : 3 charts, 2 fig., 1 tab.
Tracking expenditure for water, sanitation and hygiene in communities and social sector...
Authors: Agarwala, T., Khan, J.A.
Published: 07/2020
Pages: 10 p.
Central and State Finance Commission grants to Panchaya Raj Institutions (PRIs) : implications...
Authors: Khan, J.A.
Published: 07/2020
Pages: 22 p. : 4 boxes, 2 fig., 8 tab.
Rural water and sanitation budgets for schools, anganwadi and health centres : an assessment of...
Authors: Khan, J.A.
Published: 07/2020
Pages: 10 p. : 5 tab.
Rural water and sanitation budgets for schools, anganwadi and health centres : an assessment of ...
Authors: Khan, J.A.
Published: 07/2020
Pages: 11 p. : 4 tab.
Tracking budgets for rural WATSAN : an assessment of districts Gaya and Samastipur in Bihar, India
Authors: Agarwala, T., Shiva, R.
Published: 04/2020
Pages: 28 p. : 3 boxes, 9 fig., 4 tab.
Tracking budgets for rural WATSAN : an assessment of districts Ganjam and Nuapada in Odisha, India
Authors: Agarwala, T., Shiva, R.
Published: 04/2020
Pages: 29 p. : 3 boxes, 13 fig., 6 tab.
Enabling environment for water security : mapping the national and state government institutions...
Authors: Saha, S., Agarwala, T.
Published: 04/2020
Pages: 10 p. : 1 fig., 7 tab.
Assessment of capacity building initiatives for key stakeholders from Odisha in rural water &...
Authors: Shiva, R., Saha, S., Saxena, S., Singh Chouhan, N.
Published: 10/2019
Pages: 26 p. : 7 tab.
Gender(ed) issues of WATSAN services : using the 7A framework for analysis in policy formulation...
Authors: Jain, K.
Published: 02/2019
Pages: 17 p., 1 fig., 2 tab.
'Utilitisation'
Authors: Franceys, R.
Published: 03/2019
Pages: 10 p.
Strengthening the role of rural local bodies in WASH financing and services : policy learnings...
Authors: Centre for Budget and Governance Accountability, IRC, WaterAid India
Published: 09/2019
Pages: 7 p.
Who plans for water and sanitation in villages?
Authors: Saha, S., Shiva, R.
Published: 12/2018
Pages: 12 p. : 3 fig.
Mapping of water & sanitation programs, institutions and fund flow architecture for Ganjam,...
Authors: Agarwala, T., Das, S., Shiva, R., Saha, S.
Published: 12/2018
Pages: 26 p., 10 tab., 5 fig.
Mapping of water & sanitation programs, institutions and fund flow architecture for...
Authors: Agarwala, T., Das, S., Shiva, R., Saha, S.
Published: 12/2018
Pages: 24 p., 4 fig., 9 tab.
A baseline of the strength of the WASH system in India
Authors: Shiva, R., Krukkert, I., Saha, S., Mohapatra, B.
Published: 01/2018
Pages: 31 pgs