For example, in 1998, an unsettled dispute for the last one-year in the court of the Executive Engineer, Bahawalnagar Circle, was referred to the FO and was resolved within a week. Referring disputes to FOs by the members is itself a big impact. The improved interaction of the FOs with the private sector has resulted in timely and efficient access to agriculture inputs and in community development projects. The community has access to new technology and improved agronomic practices through exposure trips within and outside the country. Over 300 FOs' leaders and grassroots' members participated in 10 different training programmes related to flow measurement and organizational development.
Some leader now acts as resource person for training farmers.
These FOs have sustained for three years without any formal support and legal recognition, even after resistance from the PIDA field staff. In this process, grassroots WUAs were established according to legal criteria. In January 2000, FOs showed a significant impact on organizational development when, under the PIDA legal framework, they successfully re-elected the office bearers for distributary level FOs. This was achieved through strong backing from top-level PIDA staff. However, there was no cooperation from the PIDA field staff.