RAS question
Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) primarily involves the creation of which bodies at the field level?
Correct answer: (C) Water User Associations (WUAs).
Participatory Irrigation Management primarily creates Water User Associations at the field level, so farmers take part in managing irrigation systems.
Explanation
Participatory Irrigation Management is built around Water User Associations, or WUAs, formed by farmers in the command area. The Department of Water Resources, River Development & Ganga Rejuvenation treats PIM as a system functioning through farmer groups generally known as WUAs, with farmer participation including transfer of responsibility for operation and maintenance and collection of water charges to these associations in their respective jurisdiction. WUAs handle equitable water distribution, maintenance of field channels, and water-charge collection at the minor or distributary level. The key point is that PIM is not a general local-government arrangement; it is a field-level irrigation-management model in which the users of irrigation water are organised into associations and given defined management responsibilities.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) Gram Panchayats are general local governance bodies, whereas PIM specifically works through farmer Water User Associations for irrigation management.
- (B) Irrigation Development Authorities are not the field-level farmer groups envisaged under PIM, which transfers local irrigation responsibilities to WUAs.
- (D) Canal Revenue Committees are not the formal PIM structure for farmer participation in irrigation management; the recognised field-level bodies are Water User Associations.
Concept
This tests participatory management in irrigation under Indian water-resource governance. It recurs in RAS because Rajasthan’s agriculture and command-area questions often turn on who manages water distribution, maintenance, and user-level accountability.