Role of Social Capital in Enhancing Equitable Water Distribution Under Participatory Irrigation Management System in the Central Punjab
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ROLE OF SOCIAL CAPITAL IN ENHANCING EQUITABLE WATER DISTRIBUTION UNDER PARTICIPATORY IRRIGATION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM IN THE CENTRAL PUNJAB BY ARSHED BASHIR M.SC. (RURAL SOCIOLOGY) A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN RURAL SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF RURAL SOCIOLOGY FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES UNIVERSITY OF AGRICULTURE, FAISALABAD PAKISTAN 2014 i Declaration I hereby declare that the contents of the thesis " Role of Social Capital in Enhancing Equitable Water Distribution Under Participatory Irrigation Management System in the Central Punjab" are product of my own research and no part has been copied from any published source (except the references and standard mathematical equations). I further declare that this work has not been submitted for award of any diploma/degree. The University may take action if any the information provided is found inaccurate at any stage. In case of any default the scholar will be proceeded against as per HEC plagiarism policy. Signature of the Student: ______________________ Name: Arshed Bashir Regd. No. 89-ag-876 ii To The Controller of Examinations, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad. Subject: EVALUATION REPORT OF FINAL Ph. D. THESIS OF MR. ARSHED BASHIR, 89-ag-876 With reference to your letter No. CE/PA/2707 dated June 12, 2014 and letter No. CE/PA/ 3941 dated September 19, 2014 all the suggestions/comments suggested by reviewer 1 and reviewer 2 are incorporated in the thesis titled " Role of Social Capital in Enhancing Equitable Water Distribution Under Participatory Irrigation Management System in the Central Punjab" of Mr. Arshed Bashir, 89-ag-876. Yours sincerely, Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Zafar Supervisor/Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences, UAF SUPERVISORY COMMITTEE 1. Chairman ________________________________ (Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Zafar) 2. Member ________________________________ (Dr. Saira Akhtar) 3. Member ________________________________ (Prof. Dr. Sher Muhammad) iii This piece of work is DEDICATION Dedicated To This piece of work is My LovingDedicated Grand Father Ghulam Muhammad Grewal (Late) To & My MyLoving loving Grand Sister Father GhulamMisbah Muhammad Bashir Grewal Grewal (Late) (Late) & DEDICATION My Loving Sister Misbah Bashir Grewal (Late) iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis is the result of my long efforts which I have spent in the completion of Ph.D. Degree. It is worth mentioning here to say few words for those who had spent their time in accomplishing my research work. First of all I must thank to the Almighty Allah, who gave me the patience and abilities to perform this extensive work and to Hazrat Muhammad (peace be upon him), who is always source of inspiration for seeking knowledge. I am highly indebted to my supervisor Prof. Dr. Muhammad Iqbal Zafar, Dean, Faculty of Social Sciences who always supported me during my studies. The technical support and guidance provided by him was served as a source of light for completion of this manuscript. The support provided by Dr. Saira Akhtar, Associate Professor, Department of Rural Sociology, member of the supervisory committee, during the completion of research work is highly appreciated. I am highly obliged to Prof. Dr. Sher Muhammad, Institute of Agri. Extension and Rural Development, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, member of the supervisory committee, for his scholastic thoughts and valuable comments in the completion of thesis work. I express my sincere gratitude to Prof. Dr. Ashfaq Ahmad Maann, Chairman, Department of Rural Sociology for supportive attitude during my studies. I acknowledge the hard work of data collection team especially Mr. Nasir Bashir during the data collection. I am highly thankful to Mr. Abdul Rahim Grewal, Mr. Sohail Abbas Shamsi, Mr. Saeed Ahmad Ghuman, Mr. Muhammad Ishaq and other staff of PIDA for technical and moral support provided during data collection. I am also grateful to the farmers who provided required information with patience. Technical guidance and moral support provided by Dr. Muhammad Sharif, Member, Social Sciences, PARC, Islamabad; Dr. Umar Farooq, Chief Scientific Officer, SSD, PARC, v Islamabad and Dr. A.D. Sheikh, Ex-Director, Technology Transfer Institute, PARC, Faisalabad is highly acknowledged. Special thanks are due to Chairman, PARC, Islamabad for granting permission to complete Ph.D. Degree. The moral support provided by Mr. Muhammad Saeed Akbar, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad is also appreciated. Last but not the least, special acknowledgement stands for my loving parents for their prays for my success in life. I can never forget the support of my wife and innocent prayers of my son, Saad Bin Arshad and daughters, Fizzah Arshad and Maryam Arshad. (Arshed Bashir) vi ABSTRACT The development of agricultural sector in Pakistan largely depends on efficient irrigation system because irrigated lands supply major portion of the agricultural produce. A massive amount of canal water is wasted during the irrigation process from main canals to the actual fields. Inadequate management combined with an increasing demand of irrigation water has resulted in low, inequitable, and unreliable water supplies. This water-scarcity situation has given birth to a hidden economy, where water users illegally tap irrigation system to generate a black market in water. The small farmers especially the farmers at tail are disadvantaged in terms of inequitable distribution of irrigation water in this situation. To overcome the problem of inequitable water distribution, Government of the Punjab introduced Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) through Punjab Irrigation & Drainage Authority (PIDA). The Farmers’ Organizations (FOs) are the central to the PIM system. The success of any project/plan depends on what a person knows and the network of relationships (social capital) developed by the members of community. Social capital is the trust, reciprocity and mutuality that inhere to social relationships. It generates when members of different social groups meet each others for attaining common goals keeping aside family, caste and political affiliation. The worldwide success of different programmes/projects for welfare of farming and other communities is linked with the social capital. The present study was, therefore, designed to see the role of social capital in facilitating improvement in equitable water distribution under PIM in the central Punjab. The study was carried out at Lower Chenab Canal (East) Circle, Faisalabad command area where PIM was started in 2000 as a pilot project. Overall, 480 respondents were selected through multistage sampling technique for data collection. Results of the study show that due to PIM activities cropped area has increased 5 and 5.4% in Rabi and Kharif seasons, respectively. The satisfaction level of farmers about recalibration of outlets, water turn and repair of “nakkas” (water diversion) was very good. However in case of water theft control, the satisfaction level was not up to the mark. The functioning of Khal Panchayat (KP) and FOs was generally satisfactory and needed more efforts for improvement in the system. The bi-variate and multivariate analysis demonstrated that among socioeconomic factors education, farm size, social status, farm vii location at watercourse and location of watercourse at distributary were significantly associated with the improvement in equitable water distribution. The different dimensions/aspects of cognitive social capital such as reciprocity, solidarity, conflict and mutual trust and structural social capital (trust on KP, FOs and PIDA officials and participation in PIM activities) emerged as important predicting variables of response variable, the improvement in equitable water distribution in the multivariate analysis. The substantial value of R2 0.643 reflecting that 64% variation in equitable water distribution was due to the social capital variables (cognitive and structural) and only the background variable i.e watercourse location at distributary. It established the suitability of these variables in predicting the improvement in equitable water distribution. Strict enforcement of PIDA laws and inclusion of more strict clauses in PIDA ordinance were suggested for controlling water theft offense. Farmers’ participation in watercourse and distributary maintenance may be enhanced with motivation through KP, FOs and PIDA officials and also through imposing strict fines on those who did not participate in these activities by amending the PIDA ordinance. On the basis of the results of the study, investment in social capital building was recommended for further improvement in the equitable water distribution. viii TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Title Page No. No. Acknowledgements iv Abstract vii Table of Contents ix List of Tables xiv List of Abbreviations xvi 1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.1 The Rationale 1 2.1 Agriculture and Economy of Pakistan 2 1.3 Irrigation System of Pakistan 5 1.4 Institutional Reforms in the Punjab 8 1.4.1 Composition of Punjab Irrigation and Drainage Authority (PIDA) 10 1.4.2 Composition of Area Water Board (AWB) 10 1.4.3 Composition of Farmer Organization (FO) 11 1.5 Need for the Study 13 1.6 Objectives 14 1.7 Conceptual Framework 15 1.8 Hypotheses of the Study 16 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 17 2.1 Theoretical Framework 17 2.2 Review of Related Studies 23 2.2.1 Socio-economic and Demographic Characteristics 23 2.2.2 Farm and Watercourse Location 25 2.2.3 Social Capital 27 ix Chapter Title Page No. No. 2.2.4 Conflict