This is a revised version of a paper presented at the National
Seminar on Iiural Water Supply and Sanitation organised by the
Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram, during
20-22 June, 1996. For constructive comments and suggestions, the
author is grateful to all the participants of the seminar, and
especially to Henk van Norden, UNICEF, New Delhi and to
Jagadish Chander, Rajiv Gandhi National Drinking Water Mission,
Government of India. The author alone is responsible for errors,
if any.