Strengthening the role of rural local bodies in WASH financing and services : policy learnings from a multi-stakeholder workshop

This policy brief is based on the discussions in a multi-stakeholder workshop on Public Financing for Water and Sanitation that was held on 25th March 2019 in New Delhi, India. The workshop focused on the planning processes and use of funds available from 14th Finance Commission and State Finance Commission funds to the Gram Panchayats (local government) for water and sanitation services. The brief captures the experiences, challenges and recommendations of civil society organisations (CSOs) and local government representatives. These recommendations include the need to invest in local government capacity building and financial accountability and regulatory systems.

This paper is part of a series on "Decentralised Public Finance for WASH: Policy and Practice Learnings", which is based on two core projects: Watershed - Capacity Building Support for Civil Society Organisations to Leverage Water and Sanitation Programmes in Bihar and Odisha supported by IRC and Tracking and Analysing Budget Allocations and Utilisation for WASH by Rural Local Bodies, supported by WaterAid India, using the Life Cycle Cost Approach covering two districts each from both the States namely Gaya and Samastipur from Bihar and Nuapada and Ganjam from Odisha.