The Stakeholder Model for Water Resource Projects

Abstract

The water resource development projects in India have been facing problems due to immense time and cost overruns. There is also the risk of taking a skewed path when planners and policy makers tend to ignore the existence of less-vocal and non-vocal entities. This could be due to a lack of a proper framework for understanding the nature and dimensions of the competing, conflicting, and varied demands both by the adversely affected and the beneficiary entities. This calls for identifying various stakeholders of the water resource projects so as to develop a stakeholder's model which is expected to not only help categorize the stakeholders along the lines of beneficial and adverse effects but also to gauge their capacity to influence change in the course of the projects. The stakeholders can be defined as individuals or group of entities who may be affected by the water resource project during its conception, construction, and operation who, in turn, may also influence the future course of the project. For identifying the stakeholders, this paper proposes a three-tier approach leading to an eight-fold classification of stakeholders. As exemplified by the Sardar Sarovar Project, the identified classes of stakeholders can be structured into a model indicating their octagonal congregate of influences and the networked effect on the water resource project. Since stakeholders are important social and economic assets for public good, the best recourse is to create a win-win situation for all of them or work out a balance in relationships with its diverse constituents for optimum realization of stakeholder value. With these objectives in view, this paper suggests a four-level stakeholder relationship model incorporating levels of: (i) unin-formed, (ii) compliant, (iii) responsive, (iv) engaged. On attaining the highest ‘engaged’ level, the project is able to create synergy among all elements of its relationship network so as to realize optimum stakeholder value. The measurement of stakeholder value is of immense importance for understanding and responding to shifts in stakeholder expectations and reactions. The proposed ‘comparative measure’ approach for evaluating stakeholder value has the advantage of being discernible, forward-looking, and capable of eliminating the element of percep- tion in measurement by taking a comparative (rather than absolute) measure of the impact on beneficiary and adversely affected groups of stakeholders. This approach requires moral reasoning, involving a rational valuation of emotions (joy or grief) in case of social stakeholders, and conditions (favourable or unfavourable) in case of non-social stakeholders, as epitomized by the factual illustration of a decision related to the height of the Sardar Sarovar Dam. The implications of the stakeholder model are as follows: It serves the ‘4S‘ management functions of Sensing, Scanning, Signalling, and Strategizing. It can be used as a powerful tool for investigation, prognostication, redressal, and management of stakeholder issues. It can also be aptly used for guiding the continuous process of national water resource reforms with an aim to achieve balanced and sustainable development with minimum conflicts. To conclude, water resource projects would ultimately help maximize societal wel- fare and improve the governance system besides becoming stakeholder responsive.