Irrigation Manager
Another important factor is the set of people who manage canal irrigation. Any improvement in the existing canal irrigation management, viz., scheduling, reducing losses at night, etc. can only be initiated by the canal managers who are mostly engineers. Their incentives include convenience and amenity for good living, career prospects, job status, respectable income in proportion to their calibre, the avoidance of stress due to ‘farmers and politicians’ complaints and pressures, and professional satisfaction. The motivation of the canal managers is adversely affected by the ‘transfer trade’ in which operation and maintenance as well as some other postings are sold by politicians (1). The price of such postings may be several times the annual salary of a manager. The manager then raises money from maintenance works and from farmers who seek firm assurance for supply of water. Such corruption on canal irrigation systems has five adverse effects: (i) costs to farmers especially the poorer and weaker, (ii) bad physical work in maintenance, (iii) bad canal management, ( iv) indiscipline of field staff, and (v) managers being demoralised and distracted from their proper work (1). Effective vigilance, political reforms and discipline can possibly improve the situation. Besides, separating the operations and maintenance cadres, inculcating awareness among farmers about their rights, and introducing accountability and incentives for managers may effectively improve the conditions to a great extent.
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