The core objective of the gender strategy under this program is to mainstream gender relations in the context of irrigation management. Specifically, it envisages strengthening women’s participation in grassroots resource management, governance and leadership with a planned 30 percent women’s representation in the executive board by the year 2019. Alongside, the program also focuses on expanding women’s knowledge of crop diversification and management, on-farm water management, O&M, systems management and control. It also enables women to gain easy access to water for agricultural and non–agricultural uses, domestic use, and health and hygiene purposes.

There has been notable progress made on the GAP. The first baseline assessment indicated that the participation of women in WUCS as well as in gram panchayat activities was quite poor and ineffective. As such only two (out of the now 11 WUCS) were partially active at the beginning of the project. Women’s participation in general was hardly forthcoming as a general feeling about their limited role in institutions such as WUCS or gram panchayat, agriculture or irrigation management was prevailing very strongly. Reasons also include:(i) local traditional practice of land holding only in the names of male members; (ii) women not encouraged to take up any works other than hard labour (in case of daily wagers).