Nal Se Jal Yojana | Mahisagar: Govt officer among 12 booked in Rs 123.44 crore ‘scam’
“The accused also bypassed the authorised agencies to award work to agencies associated with familiar persons, partners and other such individuals, with the intention of mutual benefit..” stated the FIR
The Nal Se Jal scheme irregularity comes just two months after the Dahod district police arrested 14 people for alleged irregularities in MGNREGA (Archive)
The Vadodara Zone CID Crime on Monday booked a government officer and 11 outsourced staff employed under the Nal Se Jal scheme in connection with an alleged embezzlement of Rs 123.22 crore from the funds meant for 620 villages of Mahisagar district.
The FIR, lodged on the basis of a complaint by Water and Sanitation Management Organisation (WASMO), Mahisagar district Unit Manager Girish Agola, states that the 12 accused “connived and hatched a criminal conspiracy to defraud the government by creating bogus documents and embezzling Rs 123.44 crore for their personal gain.”
The FIR states the period of crime as being between January 1, 2019 and December 31, 2023.
The FIR states that, “money allocated by the state government for the purpose of drinking water pipelines, wells, and tubewell facilities in about 620 villages under the Nal se Jal scheme for the people of Mahisagar district was not utilized for the purpose, instead was siphoned off from the treasury by producing forged bills… despite being civil servants and some being assigned the duty as civil servants, the accused, in collusion with each other have indulged in criminal breach of trust and embezzlement from the government funds…”
“The accused also bypassed the authorised agencies to award work to agencies associated with familiar persons, partners and other such individuals, with the intention of mutual benefit..” stated the FIR.
Agola told The Indian Express that the accused had forged invoices and prepared false documents, stating that the works had been completed for a bigger number of beneficiaries, when the same was not implemented on the ground.
“The forged bills were for an area where the works were not undertaken… In some places, instead of the 5-km stretch that they have laid the pipeline for, the forged bills have claimed payment for laying pipelines in an area of about 12 km…”Agola said.
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The accused include former Unit Manager AG Rajpara, District Coordinator SR Patel, in-charge district coordinator Amit Patel, Assistant Technical Managers Mauleshkumar Hingu, Karamvirsinh Sisodia, Surpalsinh Baria, and Vanrajsinh Sodha Parmar as well as Assistant Technical staff Dashrath Parmar, Parthkumar Patel and Bhavikkumar Prajapati, along with Assistant Mechanical Alpeshkumar Parmar.
Agola told this newspaper that except Parthkumar Patel, all other accused have already been suspended.
The FIR also comes over a year after Agola had black-listed and debarred 27 contractors of the project in Mahisagar from undertaking the work as they “did not follow the process of tender” and were accused of irregularities in June 2024.
Agola said, “The officers accused in this FIR were also involved in the irregularity related to the agencies and contractors taken on board to complete the works without following the tendering process… After (WASMO), we debarred them, they approached the court and sought relief… WASMO had to revoke the debarring… These accused officials have connived with some of the contractors and payments have been made from the government funds towards the forged bills while work has not been completed on the ground.”
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The Nal Se Jal scheme irregularity comes just two months after the Dahod district police arrested 14 people for alleged irregularities in MGNREGA, where government officials have been accused of allegedly conspiring with the unauthorised agencies in the Devgadh Baria and Dhanpur taluka of the district to embezzle funds of Rs 70 crore by producing forged bills for incomplete tasks. Sons of Gujarat Minister Bachubhai Khabad — Balvantsinh and Kiran — have been arrested in two offences each, in the Dahod case.
Aditi Raja is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, stationed in Vadodara, Gujarat, with over 20 years in the field. She has been reporting from the region of Central Gujarat and Narmada district for this newspaper since 2013, which establishes her as a highly Authoritative and Trustworthy source on regional politics, administration, and critical socio-economic and environmental issues.
Expertise:
Core Authority & Specialization: Her reporting is characterized by a comprehensive grasp of the complex factors shaping Central Gujarat, which comprises a vast tribal population, including:
Politics and Administration: In-depth analysis of dynamics within factions of political parties and how it affects the affairs in the region, visits of national leaders making prominent statements, and government policy decisions impacting the population on ground.
Crucial Regional Projects: She consistently reports on the socio-economic and political impact of infrastructure projects in the region, especially the Statue of Unity, the Sardar Sarovar Project on the Narmada River, the Mumbai-Ahmedabad High Speed Rail bullet train project as well as the National Highway infrastructure.
Social Justice and Human Rights: Her reporting offers deep coverage of sensitive human-interest topics, including gender, crime, and tribal issues. Her reports cover legal proceedings from various district courts as well as the Gujarat High Court (e.g., the Bilkis Bano case remission, POCSO court orders, Public Interest Litigations), the plight of tribal communities, and broader social conflicts (e.g., Kheda flogging case).
Local Impact & Disaster Reporting: Excels in documenting the immediate impact of events on communities, such as the political and civic fallout of the Vadodara floods, the subsequent public anger, and the long-delayed river redevelopment projects, Harni Boat Tragedy, Air India crash, bringing out a blend of stories from the investigations as well as human emotions.
Special Interest Beat: She tracks incidents concerning Non-Resident Gujaratis (NRIs) including crime and legal battles abroad, issues of illegal immigration and deportations, as well as social events connecting the local Gujarati experience to the global diaspora. ... Read More
