In response to Srirupa Bhattacharya’s article “Groundwater, Gurus, and Governmentality: Seva in the Neo-liberal Development Regime in India” (EPW, 10 August 2019), this article raises a few important questions on the modalities of the implementation and, consequently, the actual impacts of the water conservation projects run by religious organisations. Using the example of the Manjra river rejuvenation project, this article further decodes Bhattacharya’s observation of the gurus receiving “unprecedented structural cooperation” and “universal acceptability” from all, including the state actors.
