to help implement and monitor its sector reform pilot programme more effectively, the Union rural development ministry recently signed an agreement with the World Bank's Water and Sanitation Programme. The Union government's programme, which covers 70 million rural people, has proved ineffective till now. The major drawback has been monitoring its progress. "The monitoring problem is proving to be very damaging for communities,' says Nafisa Barot, executive trustee of Utthan Development Action Planning Team, an Ahmedabad-based non-governmental organisation. "Lack of reliable monitoring is also coming in the way of identifying success stories whose positive aspects can be implemented elsewhere,' Barot added.