Water scenario in rural areas
Dependence on the state has meant that with the cost of water supply being high and cost recovery being poor, the financial sustainability of water schemes has run aground, and repairs and maintenance is abysmal. With people having no interest in using water carefully, the sustainability of water has itself become questionable.

There are serious problems with government drinking water supply schemes. Despite government efforts, the number of 'problem villages' does not seem to go down, as shown in the following graph.

Indian state's math: 1-1=1

The government has indeed invested heavily on water resources development, which focussed on large-scale irrigation development for increasing green revolution-style agriculture production and drinking water supply programmes. Yet, a large part of the country remains drought-prone. This is because no specific effort has been made to drought-proof rainfed areas which suffer from high rainfall variability from year to year.

A glance at the worsening drought scenario: