SOCIO-CULTURAL INTIMIDATION ON THE EMERGING IRRIGATION INSTITUTIONS

India is predominantly an agrarian society; access to water for irrigation is an influencing factor of the status of a landed individual. Technological development provided opportunity to individual access to ground water through mechanised wells and hence the once popular tank water irrigation lost its importance in many places and so the traditional irrigation institutions managing them. The State had full control over irrigation tanks. The last decades of the 20th century witnessed a pervasive policy consensus spear headed by World Bank to transfer state management of natural resource by and large to community of users. Resulting in a blanket approach of Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM) components in all irrigation-related activities nationwide (Hooja et al. 2002). Thus through projects and through legislations the States started the formation of WUA in villages The fundamental features of an Indian village social structure are the constitution of various castes in the village (Srinivas 1976; Béteille 1996). The interactions and relationship of individuals between local institutions of social, religious, economic and political nature underlies the functioning of village social system. An individual has different types of roles to play. The inter-relation between individuals belonging to different institutions is one of the factors that explains their role, relationship of power and social status. The power in an Indian village is spread wider in different levels of the social structure resulting in emergence of different types of elites. The elites’ intervening factors play a significant role in all sets of action pattern involving individuals from different institutions.