Public Irrigation and Well-being of Women: A Tale of Two Villages in North-east Karnataka,India

Abstract

This article explores how public irrigation mediates the well-being of women through a study of two villages in north-east Karnataka with contrasting natures of access to irrigation. It shows that public irrigation plays an “instrumental role” in the well-being of women. Here, the well-being of women is defined in terms of four dimensions that include survival, education, health and self-awareness. The village that has access to public-funded canal irrigation exhibits relatively better performance in terms of well-being of women compared to the village with non-canal irrigation. These outcomes are explained in terms of access to irrigation and distribution of land. This micro-level study shows the need to focus on public expenditure in rural infrastructure projects, including irrigation, to mitigate gender inequities.

Keywords

Irrigation women gender well-being village Karnataka

Does public irrigation mediate the well-being of women? This is the larger question this study attempts to examine in the context of two villages in north-east Karnataka, India. There are a few studies that address the impact of irrigation on income generation and poverty reduction in developing countries (e.g., see Janaiah et al., 2000; Palmer-Jones, 1992). Particularly, Scarlett Epstein (1973), in her classic study on two villages in South Karnataka, shows how irrigation, especially canal irrigation, brought drastic changes on the landscape of the village economy. However, there are not many studies that address the mediation of irrigation on the well-being of women. The question of well-being of women in South Asia is very important, since the region is experiencing one of the fastest growth rates in the world (World Bank, 2019). India has one of the highest growth rates among all the South Asian countries.¹ However, the status of women in terms of access to economic resources, education and health remains low in India compared to many low-growth countries in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa (Human Development Report, 2018). The high economic growth the country is experiencing has largely failed to translate into the well-being of women. For instance, according to the World Bank (2019), the incidence of anaemia among pregnant women in India is around 50%. Similarly, the mortality rate among children under 5 is still higher among females compared to males. Also, the proportion of children in the age group 7–14 who are out of school and employed in agriculture is relatively higher among females compared to males in India. Further, studies show that there is a crisis in social reproduction, since the burden of reproductive labour has intensified among women due to rural distress, reducing their opportunities for paid work (Rao & Vakulabharanam, 2018). Hence, it is imperative to inquire how far the high economic growth in India that has been witnessed in recent times has trickle down to rural women.

Development for Women Versus Women for Development

The assessment of rural development policies, including those on irrigation, should go beyond the narrow technocratic approach of cost–benefit analysis to integrate the concerns of the well-being of women. It is necessary to take the rural households in any attempt to reduce gender inequality. Rise in income and reduction in poverty among rural households through irrigation can positively affect women’s empowerment (Domenech & Claudia, 2013). Hence, it is necessary to focus on the family in any attempt to challenge gender inequalities. The public investment in rural infrastructure projects, including irrigation, can play a catalytic role in this endeavour. However, in recent times, undue attention has been directed towards micro-income-generating projects that provide credit and technical assistance to rural households, especially women (Sanyal, 1991). The development agencies, while evaluating these programmes, conclude by suggesting that costs can be reduced and benefits increased by selecting market niches where the poor could get higher rates of return. This individualised technocratic approach towards rural development/women empowerment does not take into account the structures through which poverty/gender inequalities are created and reproduced in our society. The task of poverty eradication is to eradicate the structures that create deprivation rather than fix the people who are vulnerable to poverty (Chant, 2008). The power relations within a household need to be taken into account in any attempt to improve the lives of the disempowered. For instance, in recent times, there has been greater-than-ever awareness about programmes targeted at women, including micro-credit programmes. However, the empowerment potential of these programmes for women is rather highly debated. According to one school of thought, these micro-credit programmes targeting women are largely empowering, since they increase women’s ability to contribute to their family income (Hashemi et al., 1996). Usually, women’s high demand for loans and their repayment of loans are taken as proxy variables for empowerment. However, the critiques of the above school of thought argue that rather than empowering women, micro-credit programmes deepen women’s dependence on men (Garikipati, 2013). According to them, the empowerment potential of these programmes should be assessed in terms of processes rather than outcomes. The studies show that usually, the men in a household make decisions regarding the investment of loans, while the burden of repayment of the loans falls on the women (Goetz & Gupta, 1996). Such a situation worsens the conditions of women, as they are compelled to work for low wages in the market.

Currently, enormous attention and resources have been diverted towards women-targeting programmes as an easy and efficient solution for women’s empowerment. These programmes, revolving around either credit or land, do not take into account the power relations within a household in assessing empowerment outcomes (Jackson, 2003). They incorporate women but depend on the gender divide for their success, reinforcing the social divisions through which gender asymmetries are produced and reproduced. The success of these programmes stands on the premise of a woman fulfilling her traditional role of a “mother” (Kandiyoti, 1990). The resources channelled through her are expected to improve the well-being of her family, especially the children. Women are viewed as “instruments” rather than as an end of development itself. Instead of development working for women, women end up working for development. These programmes can have negative consequences in terms of restricting women’s freedom to participate in paid work and increasing their traditional responsibilities (Jaquette, 1990; Kabeer, 1994). Rural development policies will not have the intended effect or might even produce unintended effects if the role and position of women within a household are not taken into account. Unless these women-targeting programmes are accompanied by sweeping changes in mechanisms that produce and reproduce inequalities in the agrarian sector, including access to irrigation, any attempt to improve the well-being of women may remain purely a stopgap arrangement.

Measuring the Well-being of Women

Measuring the well-being of women is a very difficult and complex task. The most simple and straightforward way of defining and measuring well-being is in terms of income. Such a definition and measurement of well-being of women has led to the proliferation of literature on the “feminisation of poverty”. According to this thesis, the share of women who are income poor is relatively higher compared to that of men. However, in recent times, there has been growing support for the need to understand the poverty of women beyond income. According to this definition, poverty can mean more than the income dimension. It can be the denial of choices and opportunities most basic to human life, including the opportunity to lead a long and healthy and creative life and to enjoy a decent standard of living (Fakuda-Parr, 1999). Women face a higher poverty of opportunities and choices. Focusing only on income can mask the poverty of opportunities and choices. Such an understanding of well-being of women beyond income has led to exploration of different methods of measuring the well-being of women.

The most widely used methods of measuring well-being of women are the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) Gender Development Index (GDI) and Gender Empowerment Measure (GEM). Whereas GDI measures well-being in terms of human development indicators, GEM measures the “agency” aspect of empowerment. GDI is the unweighted average of three indices: life expectancy at birth, gross enrolment and literacy rate and earned income (UNDP, 1995). GEM, on the other hand, is the unweighted average of three indices that measure the “agency” aspect of empowerment, that is, the percentage of women in parliament, the male–female ratio among administrators, managers and professional and technical workers and the female–male GDP ratio calculated from female and male shares of earned income. Apart from these two popular methods, there have been attempts in recent times to measure gender inequality by incorporating more easily quantifiable variables, including nutritional status and time use (Dijkstra & Hanmer, 2000). Similarly, a gendered human poverty measure has been constructed taking into account various dimensions, including survival, education and health (Durbin, 1999).

The present study takes indication from the above gendered-poverty index in terms of the three dimensions in defining the well-being of women. While selecting indicators, our focus has been on processes rather than outcomes. We have broadly used different indicators to show the three dimensions of well-being of women as defined in the gendered-poverty index: the survival dimension is defined in terms of access to prenatal care and institutional delivery, better education is defined in terms of the illiteracy rate and share of women in higher education, and health is conceptualised in terms of access to adoption of family planning methods and utilisation of healthcare services. The above processes may lead to positive outcomes for the well-being of women in terms of lower maternal mortality rate, better education and better health. Apart from the above three dimensions, another dimension is also added in this study, that is, self-awareness, the indicators used to measure which are perception of domestic violence and exposure to media.

North-east Karnataka

The state of Karnataka in India is above the national average in terms of per capita income and human development indicators (Economic Survey Karnataka, 2017–2018). Also, it stands fifth in rank among all the states in India in terms of per capita income. However, Karnataka, despite its higher per capita income and human development indicators than those of the rest of the country, is marked by inequality in development across regions within the state (Twelfth Five Year Plan, 2012–2017). In particular, north-eastern Karnataka is considered as one of the least developed and drought-prone regions in India. The per capita income, as well as human development indicators, of this region stands much below the national average (Human Development Report Karnataka, 2005).

North-east Karnataka (popularly known as the Hyderabad–Karnataka region, as it was part of the erstwhile Hyderabad state until the 1950s) is considered as one of the most backward and arid regions in India. According to the Twelfth Five-Year Plan, some of the poorest districts in India exist in this region. This region is one of the most neglected regions in India in terms of human development. The Human Development Index (HDI) of most districts in north-east Karnataka stands lower compared to the HDI of India as a whole (Human Development Report Karnataka, 2005). More than half of the population in this region resides in rural areas and also has a fairly good proportion of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe people compared to the state and all-India averages. There is a high degree of extra-economic coercion in the relations of production, and also, the region is marked by stark inequality in gender in both education and health (Census of India, 2011a, 2011b, 2011c, 2011d, 2011e, 2011f). The female literacy rate, as well as women’s access to basic infrastructure, including safe drinking water and sanitation, remains lower compared to the state and all-India averages. Given the above development scenario, north-east Karnataka provides an appropriate setting to understand the trickle-down effect of the high economic growth India has been witnessing in recent times in terms of the well-being of women.

Public Irrigation Versus Private Irrigation

A canal-irrigated village that is public-funded shows a relatively better picture in various dimensions of the well-being of women. Here, we argue that differences in the sources of irrigation mediate the well-being of women. The major sources of irrigation in India are largely open wells, tube wells, borewells and canals. However, in recent times, there has been tremendous growth in groundwater-based structures, including open wells and borewells, which are mostly private-financed (Mukherji et al., 2013; Pant, 2004; Sarkar, 2011). The use of high-yielding varieties of crops has led to the large-scale shift from canal irrigation to groundwater sources of irrigation, which are considered as more flexible and reliable. Several studies done in different regions of India highlight the operational problems in the canal irrigation system, including lack of water and maintenance throughout the year and illegal water outlets (Hart Henry, 1978; Lele & Patil, 2006; Talati & Pandya, 2007; Wade, 1980). On the other hand, many studies highlight the positive externalities of public-funded irrigation facilities, including canal irrigation, in improving the productivity of soil, as well as facilitating cropping-pattern changes, especially in semi-arid and arid regions in India (Dhawan, 1988; Howes & Rinku, 2003; Sarkar, 2011). Also, these studies show that beneficiaries of the canal irrigation system include marginal farmers also, since groundwater sources of irrigation are largely restricted to the non-poor. Since north-east Karnataka is largely a drought-prone region, access to public sources of irrigation, including canal irrigation, is very important for its development.

The present study argues that access to public irrigation, unlike private sources of irrigation, can intervene in the well-being of women. Our findings show that a canal-irrigated village that is public-funded shows relatively better performance in different dimensions of the well-being of women compared to a non-canal irrigated village that is dependent on private sources of irrigation.

Methodology

The present study is based on a micro-level study of two villages in north-east Karnataka. This region mainly consists of six districts: Bidar, Gulbarga, Raichur, Bellary, Yadgir and Koppal. The two villages were chosen from Gulbarga district, since the district exhibits the general features of north-east Karnataka in land ownership pattern, literacy rate, health and access to physical and social infrastructure. Apart from this, this district has the highest share of population among all the districts in the region. The two villages in Gulbarga district were selected purposively, since one village is canal-irrigated (Janiwar village) and the other village not canal-irrigated (Basawantawadi village) but dependent on private wells and tube wells for irrigation. However, since both the villages belong to the same district and region, they are exposed to similar agro-climatic situations, regional economies, district/state-level policies and political histories. This would help us to control a host of factors that might have otherwise independently explained the developmental trajectories of these villages (Jacob et al., 2015). Access to physical and social infrastructure, such as roads, transport and educational and health facilities, is almost similar in the two villages. A majority of the households in both villages depend on agriculture for their livelihood.

The total number of households in Janiwar village and Basawantawadi village is around 160 and 90, respectively. The fieldwork for this study was conducted during the period from January 2018 to May 2018. The census method was used to conduct a door-to-door survey of the households. The survey was conducted using a questionnaire schedule. The schedule mainly consisted of questions relating to women, including education level, type of institution attending, age, exposure to media and utilisation of healthcare facilities. Apart from this, information on women’s empowerment, such as control over earnings, perception on domestic violence, work participation, employment, number of children per woman and access to prenatal care, was also collected from each household. Apart from primary-level fieldwork, secondary sources, including Census of India reports, were also used to delineate information at the village level.

Well-being of Women in the Two Villages in North-east Karnataka

Our findings show that the canal-irrigated village paints an impressive picture in various dimensions of the well-being of women compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. As mentioned earlier, the present study defines the well-being of women largely in terms of four dimensions: survival, education, health and self-awareness. The indicators used here largely measure processes, rather than outcomes, relating to the well-being of women. Survival is measured in terms of prenatal care and institutional delivery. These measures of survival can lead to positive outcomes, including lower maternal mortality rate. Education is largely measured in terms of illiteracy rate and access to higher education, and health in terms of adoption of family planning methods and utilisation of healthcare services. The fourth dimension, self-awareness, is mostly measured in terms of perception of domestic violence and exposure to media, and these measures can possibly lead to positive outcomes, including freedom from domestic violence and informed choices.

Survival

Our analysis shows that women in the canal-irrigated village display relatively better well-being in terms of survival compared to women in the non-canal-irrigated village. The women in the canal-irrigated village had better access to prenatal care compared to those in the non-canal-irrigated village. During pregnancy, around 52% of the total women in Janiwar village had taken an ultrasound test, while around 47% had taken iron tablets (see Table 1). However, in Basawantawadi village, the shares of women who had taken an ultrasound test and those who had taken iron tablets were only 39% each.

Table 1.

Share of Women Who Have Taken Ultrasound or Iron Tablets During Their Pregnancy—Village-wise (in %)

Name of the Village	Ultrasound	Iron Tablets
Janiwar	51.82	47.44
Basawantawadi	39.28	39.28

Source: Field survey.

Also, our analysis shows that the majority of the women in the canal-irrigated village had an institutional delivery, compared to those in the non-canal-irrigated village. In Janiwar village, the majority of the women, around 55%, delivered their children in a hospital (see Table 2). On the other hand, in Basawantawadi village, only less than half of the total women delivered in a hospital, and the majority had a delivery at home.

Table 2.

Institution Where Birth Delivery of Pregnant Women Took Place—Village-wise (in %)

Janiwar			Basawantawadi
Home	Hospital	Total	Home	Hospital	Total
45.11	54.89	100.0 (133)	59.26	40.74	100.0 (81)

Source: Field survey.

Education

The picture is slightly complicated with regard to well-being in terms of education. The canal irrigated village shows relatively better performance regarding literacy while with reference to share of women in higher education non-canal irrigated village shows relatively better picture. There is inequity in access to education, especially higher education, for females in both villages. The inequity in education is relatively higher in the canal-irrigated village compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. The share of women who have completed higher secondary education and above is only 5% in Janiwar village, while it is 9% in Basawantawadi village (see Table 3). It could be noticed that in both villages, there is “gendering” in higher education. The women have access only to conventional university education, including BA, BSc, MA and MSc courses, that carries lower employment potential (see Table 3). On the other hand, men have access to job-oriented courses, including Industrial Training Institutes (ITI) and technical diplomas.

Table 3.

Education Completed in Janiwar and Basawantawadi Villages—Gender-wise (in %)

Education Completed	Janiwar			Basawantawadi
Education Completed	Male	Female	Total (N)	Male	Female	Total (N)
Illiterate	43.79	56.21	100.0 (290)	39.41	60.59	100.0 (137)
1–4 completed	54.87	45.13	100.0 (113)	52.78	47.22	100.0 (36)
5–7 completed	52.73	47.27	100.0 (110)	48.14	51.86	100.0 (54)
8–10 completed	58.27	41.73	100.0 (127)	51.30	48.7	100.0 (115)
Higher secondary completed	67.39	32.61	100.0 (46)	62.86	37.14	100.0 (35)
Degree completed	92.00	8.00	100.0 (25)	75.0	25.0	100.0 (16)
PG completed	50.0	50.0	100.0 (2)	50.0	50.0	100.0 (4)
MPhil/PhD completed	0	0	0	100.0	0	100.0 (1)
ITI completed	100.0		100.0 (2)	100.0		100.0 (10)
Technical diploma completed	100.0	0	100.0 (1)	100.0		100.0 (4)
Share of total population who completed higher secondary and above	15.30	5.34		24.40	9.36

Source: Field survey.

Table 4.

Female Work Participation Rate—Village-wise (in %)

Janiwar (N)	88.23 (169)
Basawantawadi(N)	66.67 (90)

Source: Field survey.

The relatively lower access of women to higher education could be possibly due to the higher female work participation in the canal-irrigated village. Our fieldwork shows that the female work participation rate is relatively higher in the canal-irrigated village and that the majority of the women are involved in agriculture as labourers (see Table 4).

Health

With regard to health, the canal-irrigated village paints a relatively better picture of the well-being of women compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. In Janiwar village, relatively more women have resorted to adoption of modern family planning methods compared to Basawantawadi village. Around 54% of the total married women in Janiwar village adopted family planning methods, while in Basawantawadi village the corresponding figure is 39% only (see Table 5). Family planning is mainly done through the Anganwadi Centre situated in each village.

Table 5.

Adoption of Family Planning Methods—Village-wise (in %)

Name of the Village	Yes
Janiwar	53.68
Basawantawadi	39.28

Source: Field survey.

Also, our findings show that utilisation of healthcare services among women is relatively higher in the canal-irrigated village compared to that in the non-canal-irrigated village. The share of women who visited any health institution in the last 3 months is around 10% in Janiwar village, while it is around 6% in Basawantawadi village (see Table 6).

Table 6.

Percentage Share of Women Who Visited Any Health Institution in the Last 3 Months—Village-wise (in %)

Name of the Village	Women
Janiwar (N = 379)	10.02
Basawantawadi (N = 227)	6.17

Source: Field survey.

Self-awareness

Regarding self-awareness too, the canal-irrigated village paints a relatively better picture of the well-being of women compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. Around 69% of the women in Janiwar believe that men have the right to beat their wives, which is relatively less compared to Basawantawadi village (see Table 7). Perception of domestic violence is a better indicator compared to incidence of domestic violence, since women tend to under-report the latter, as they often internalise the social norms that attach less value to their well-being. The choices of women are very much embedded within the household power structure. Their choices are very much shaped by patriarchal ideology, whereby women accept the “dominance” of men (Kabeer, 1999).

Table 7.

Perception on Wife Beating—Village-wise (in %)

Name of the Village	Share of Women Who Think a Husband Has the Right to Beat His Wife
Janiwar	68.61
Basawantawadi	75.29

Source: Field survey.

With regard to exposure to media, our study shows that the exposure of women in terms of watching television is relatively higher in the canal-irrigated village compared to that in the non-canal-irrigated village (see Table 8). Around 60% of the women in Janiwar village reported that they watch television on a daily basis, whereas in Basawantawadi the corresponding figure is only 49%. Exposure to media, including television, can improve women’s awareness on their own well-being.

Table 8.

Exposure to Media Among Women in Janiwar and Basawantawadi Villages (in %)

Name of the Village	Share of Women Who Watch Television
Janiwar	60.00
Basawantawadi	48.89

Source: Field survey.

Now, the question is: what explains the differences in the development trajectory of both villages in terms of the well-being of women? This is explained in terms of unequal access to irrigation and incomplete land reforms in the region.

Discussion: Land and Irrigation

Our fieldwork reveals that access to public irrigation has facilitated cropping-pattern changes in favour of profitable crops in the canal-irrigated village. The important crops cultivated in Janiwar village are commercial crops, including cotton, along with food crops, such as tur dal, jowar and chilli. As mentioned earlier, the well-being of women largely depends on the well-being of their household. The well-being of a woman cannot be isolated from the well-being of her family, since gender inequalities are largely entrenched within the family. Hence, a rise in income or the well-being of a household due to cultivation of commercial crops would translate into the larger well-being of women in terms of their survival, education, health and self-awareness. Moreover, these positive externalities of public irrigation in terms of the well-being of women are more or less broad-based, also since the beneficiaries include marginal and small landholding households too. More than half of the households in both villages belong to either marginal or small landholding class. These interlinkages are quite evident in Janiwar village, which has access to public irrigation.

On the other hand, in the non-canal-irrigated village, the cropping pattern is largely restricted to low-value water-saving food crops. The important crops cultivated in Basawantawadi village are tur dal and jowar. The farmers in this village are largely dependent on private sources of irrigation, including open wells and bore wells. Since more than half of the households belong either to a marginal or small class, the majority of farmers are excluded from private sources of irrigation. Also, our fieldwork shows that the incidence of debt is relatively higher in Basawantawadi, and a major source of debt in this village are irrigation-related activities. The farmers largely depend on local moneylenders for loans. The unequal access to irrigation has largely translated into relatively more distress for farmers, especially for those belonging to marginalised sections of the society. The benefits of private sources of irrigation are largely restricted to upper strata of the rural society. Such a situation has adversely affected the various dimensions of the well-being of the majority of women in this village.

Access to irrigation is largely linked to land distribution. As seen before, the marginal and small landholders are completely excluded from private sources of irrigation, since they involve huge private investment. These inequities in land distribution and irrigation automatically translate into inequalities in income among rural households. The trickle-down effect of private irrigation in terms of the well-being of women is nominal in such situations.

The land reforms in Karnataka during the post-Independence period had differential impacts on different regions within the state.² For instance, the land reform measures in 1974, which are considered as very radical in nature, had differential outcomes on various regions within the state of Karnataka (Damle, 1989). The most important measures enunciated were the following: first, there was a total ban on the leasing out of land by landlords, and second, tenancy was abolished. Another important measure was the drastic reduction of land ceilings to 10 standard acres of land. However, the extent of tenancy varied among districts. The districts in the coastal region had relatively higher incidence of tenancy compared to north-east Karnataka. Also, the nature of tenancy varied between districts. In the coastal and southern districts, the form of tenancy that was prevalent was small landholders renting large amounts of land from the big landlords (Damle, 1989). Hence, the land reforms act of 1974 largely benefitted small landholders in the coastal and southern regions of Karnataka by conferring on them ownership rights. On the other hand, the nature of tenancy prevalent in north-east Karnataka was largely “reverse tenancy”, whereby big landowners leased out large amounts of land to small landholders. Therefore, the beneficiaries of the tenancy abolition act of 1974 were mostly big landowners in north-east Karnataka. Also, the ceiling legislation had little impact on the skewed landownership pattern, especially in the north-eastern part of Karnataka (Deshpande & Torgal, 2003). In addition, agricultural labourers failed to get rights over their homestead. This is quite evident in the present landownership pattern in north-east Karnataka, where there is huge concentration of land in a few hands and the majority of the population are dependent on agricultural labour for their livelihood.

During the post-1977 periods, land reform measures in the state of Karnataka suffered severe obstruction. Those who formulated these policies were either themselves landlords or their representatives. In fact, Karnataka is one of the states in India to reverse the land reform laws. The land reform bill was introduced in the legislative assembly in the 1990s (Ramakumar, 2017). First, it raised the land ceiling from 10–54 acres to 40–216 acres. Second, the bill legalised leasing, which had been banned in the original land reform act. Third, restrictions on the acquisition of agricultural land by non-agricultural “sources” were removed. Also, the bill gave permission to convert agricultural land into non-agricultural land. Hence, land reforms as an important instrument of social justice failed to create an egalitarian society in Karnataka, especially in north-east Karnataka.

Summary and Conclusion

The findings of the present study based on the study of two villages in north-east Karnataka show that public irrigation mediates the well-being of women. Here, we have defined the well-being of women in terms of four dimensions: survival, education, health and self-awareness. The indicators we have chosen to understand different dimensions of women’s well-being denote processes, rather than outcomes, relating to well-being. To understand the dimension of survival, we have chosen the indicators of access to prenatal care and institutional delivery. With regard to education, we have chosen two indicators, illiteracy rate and access to higher education, and for health, access to family planning methods and utilisation of healthcare services. The fourth dimension, self-awareness, is denoted by self-perception on wife beating and exposure to media. All these indicators pertaining to processes denote different outcomes, including lower mortality rate, better education, better health and informed choices.

The canal-irrigated village shows relatively better performance in various dimensions of well-being compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. However, the picture with regard to education is slightly complicated, since the canal-irrigated shows relatively lower incidence of illiteracy and less access to higher education for women compared to the non-canal-irrigated village. The relative better performance of the canal-irrigated village in different dimensions of women’s well-being is explained in terms of access to public irrigation and incomplete land reforms in the region.

Access to public irrigation, including canal irrigation, provides opportunities to grow profitable crops, along with water-saving food crops, in an arid region, including north-east Karnataka. Since the well-being of a woman depends largely on the well-being of her household, a rise in income or opportunities for growth among households irrespective of caste and class would translate into well-being for the majority of women. Such a trickle-down effect is quite evident in the canal-irrigated village. On the other hand, in the non-canal-irrigated village, access to irrigation is restricted only to upper strata of the rural society because of the private sources of irrigation. The marginal and small landholders, who constitute more than 50% of the total landholders, are completely excluded because of the huge private investment involved in it. The incidence of debt due to irrigation-related activities is relatively higher in this village. Also, the cropping pattern is just restricted to water-saving food crops. Hence, the trickle-down effect of growth is relatively lower, and as a result, the well-being of a majority of the women in the non-canal-irrigated village, in various dimensions, is poor compared to that in the canal-irrigated village.

The incomplete land reforms in the state, as well as region, also led to unequal access to irrigation, especially private irrigation. As mentioned earlier, the marginal and small landholders are completely excluded from private irrigation. Hence, the access to private irrigation is largely linked to land distribution. The land reform measures enunciated by the state of Karnataka during the post-Independence period had differential impacts on different regions, due to differences in the tenurial conditions prevailing in different regions within the state. Some of the radical land reforms measures evolved by the state were abolition of tenancy and imposition of land ceilings. However, these measures had different impacts on different regions. For instance, most of the beneficiaries of these measures in north-east Karnataka, unlike in South Karnataka, were big landlords, because of the prevalence of reverse tenancy, whereby big landlords used to lease out land to small landholders. Also, in recent times, many of the radical land reform measures were reversed, due to the aggressive neoliberal policies followed by the state since 1991.

Our study shows that any attempt to improve the well-being of women should focus on families too, since gender inequalities are very much embedded within the family. However, in recent times, undue attention has been directed towards women-targeting programmes, on the premise that access to “market” would automatically translate into the well-being of women. The structural factors that reinforce patriarchal ideology within a family are largely ignored in these financial programmes with a narrow technocratic approach. Women are used as “instruments” rather than beneficiaries of development in these programmes. The public expenditure on rural infrastructural projects, including irrigation, can mitigate poverty among rural households. The well-being of women is largely dependent on the well-being of households.

However, in recent times, especially in the post-liberalisation period, there has been a rising focus private investment in irrigation. The major rationales put forward for this rising private investment in irrigation at the cost of public expenditure are “efficiency” and ease of management. As mentioned earlier, many studies done in different regions show the management problems in public irrigation, including canal irrigation. However, the need of the hour in the context of rising inequalities within the rural areas in India, as well as across the globe, is to evolve better management practices, rather than overlooking public expenditure on irrigation. What we suggest is a negotiation of the public expenditure model with the efficiency model for better management practices. There should be public expenditure on irrigation, but at the same time, it should be micromanaged at the local level in an efficient and equitable manner through involving different stakeholders belonging to different strata of rural society. As this study shows, the public expenditure in irrigation not only has the potential to reduce poverty in an agrarian society but also plays a major “instrumental role” in improving the well-being of deprived sections of the society, including women in rural areas.

Footnotes

Acknowledgements

I sincerely thank Mr Devendra for his excellent research assistance during the fieldwork.

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

Funding

This study is part of a major research project titled “Growth and Inclusiveness: Land, education, health and women in two villages in Hyderabad-Karnataka region”, funded by Indian Council for Social Science Research, New Delhi (F.No.02/211/2016-17/ICSSR/RP).

Notes

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