Irrigation Development and Equity Impacts in India

growth and sustainable development. Its catalytic role in enhancing the productivity growth to meet the food and income needs of the Indian economy is well established. With looming crisis in water sector, water policies and water plans will have to be vision oriented for ensuring equity and efficiency in multiple uses and sources of water. Equitable distribution of irrigation benefits while promoting efficiency in its use will be a win-win situation matching with the poverty alleviation and income growth goals of India’s agricultural development. Stiff competition is developing between different uses and users of water, which is likely to sharpen as India’s annual per capita water availability goes below the water scarce threshold level of 1700 cubic meter within next two decades. For instance, in India, inter-state conflicts over sharing the common river basin are not uncommon in the past. But now, intra-basin conflicts within the state percolating down to village level conflicts are seen frequently as a manifestation of equity issues with multiple users ascertaining their rights over the sharing of this scarce resource. Equity impacts of water, in its major use, namely, irrigated agriculture has been the central theme of this policy paper. The authors have attempted to quantify the equity impacts of irrigation development in India during 1970 through 1990, using the Agricultural Census database covering major states and small states and union territories. Better understanding of spatial and temporal equity implications of the irrigation development policies pursued in the past shall be useful in evolving future strategies.