The policy making process defines principles, actors & processes that can be moved to an enforceable set of decision-making requirements through law. It has a direct bearing upon the development process and influence practices on the ground. However, does the practice level subjectivities gets captured in the policy process? The gap between policy and practice is the marker of the wellbeing of people in particular and community in general. The official water policy paradigm of Rajasthan presents an incomplete picture of the practice level water realities. And most importantly, it misses out the central actors who are integrated with water in their daily livelihoods - women. The association of women with water sustains and produces the everyday living processes in households and communities. The exercise of situated agency by women and the resulting water practices forms the base of the dynamic water governance process. However, the water policies and programmes present a different reality. This paper targets this policy- practice gap through an ethnographic study of five villages in the Sanganer Tehsil of Rajasthan and locates the phenomenon within larger debates around gender, social exclusion, water governance and development. Further, it traces the differing perceptions of the policy aspect where water is understood as a quantity to be collected and supplied through out the state. While the practice realities revolve around women managing water with their intrinsic practices of management and conservation in the society. The sustainable development goal (SDG) 6 aims to ensure the availability and management of clean water and sanitation to every individual, thus, linking this natural resource with the larger developmental agenda. Thus, it is extremely essential to take steps to target the widening gap between policy and practice which will ultimately make the development process more effective, inclusive and sustainable.
