Declining Employment in Water Conservation: An Analysis of Water Management Programs in Ranchi, Jharkhand, India

This article examines the relationship between water conservation efforts and employment generation in the Ranchi district of Jharkhand, India, over a four-year period from 2020-21 to 2023-24. The Department of Rural Development, Government of Jharkhand, provides secondary data that are analyzed in this study using both exploratory and quantitative research methodologies. A linear regression analysis is utilized to evaluate the impact of time (years) on employment across various water conservation related activities, including water conservation, renovation of traditional water bodies, flood control, drought proofing, irrigation canals, irrigation facilities for marginalized groups (SC/ST/IAY/LR) and land development. The findings reveal a significant decline in employment opportunities, particularly in water conservation and irrigation-related sectors with negative trends evident in most categories. The key statistical indicators such as R squared values, t-statistics and confidence intervals are used to evaluate the strength and reliability of the regression models. The regression analysis reveals strong negative trends in water conservation (R2=0.9208), irrigation canals (R2=0.9439) and SC/ST/IAY/LR irrigation facilities (R2=0.9858) with annual job losses of 77,273, 1,08,166 and 4,93,713 respectively. Flood Control (R2= 0.6511) and land development (R2= 0.7302) show moderate declines while drought proofing and traditional water body renovation exhibit weak correlations. The study concludes that sustainable employment generation in water conservation requires strategic interventions to adapt to changing priorities and to promote long-term economic and environmental sustainability in the region.