Survey data on preferences and attitudes towards participatory irrigation management in India and Pakistan

The data described in this paper were collected from four jurisdictions in south Asia, Assam and Bihar in India and Punjab and Sindh in Pakistan. The data were collected from farmer households involved in surface water irrigation with the aim of understanding the merits of participatory irrigation management (PIM) in different settings in south Asia. The data were collected using four structured survey instruments, which comprised three paper-based surveys and one online survey collected via tablets. This data can be used by researchers to empirically analyze: overall institutional performance and its relationship to agro-economic variables; drivers of compliance; gender differences and their impact on participation in water groups and perceptions of performance; preferred charging regimes and broader institutional arrangements for managing water at the local level. These data are unique, having been collected simultaneously across the four jurisdictions.