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Journalism of Courage
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has directed officials of the Jal Shakti Ministry to take action against those who have committed irregularities in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM), and after the Centre’s nudge, at least seven states have imposed penalties on and recovered over Rs 129 crore from contractors, a top official said Tuesday.
A top official at the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), which comes under the Ministry of Jal Shakti and oversees JJM’s implementation, said, “The Prime Minister has only this to say: ‘we launched this scheme with the ultimate goal of providing water to everyone’s house’. ‘Any irregularities committed by anyone will not be spared now. You must take action’”.
“Our minister stated in Parliament that no one will be spared… None of the fellows who are responsible will be spared….The PM has directed us to take action on all the complaints we receive. We have been taking them up with the states. States have responded positively, and lots of action has already started happening,” said the official.
The official said that, as directed by the Prime Minister, states were asked to address critical observations and implementation gaps based on on-ground verification reports submitted by the Central Nodal Officers (CNO).
Highest recovery in Gujarat
According to the official, seven states, including Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Gujarat, Assam, Maharashtra, Karnataka, and Rajasthan, have imposed penalties and recovery on contractors, of which Rs 12.95 crore have already been recovered. The highest amount of “penalty/recovery imposed” was reported at Rs 120.65 crore from Gujarat, followed by Rajasthan at Rs 5.34 crore.
Besides this, Uttar Pradesh has imposed “liquidated damages” ranging from 0.1 per cent to 10 per cent in 113 cases out of 119 cases against which action has been taken. In the remaining 6 cases, the scope of the contractors has been reduced for work ranging from 43 villages to 212 villages, the official said.
On November 10, The Indian Express reported that action has been taken against at least 596 officials, 822 contractors, and 152 Third Party Inspection Agencies (TPIAs) across 15 states and Union Territories following complaints received about financial irregularities and poor quality of work under the Centre’s Jal Jeevan Mission for supplying drinking water through individual tap connections to rural households.
Sharing an update on the action taken into the complaints of irregularities in the JJM, the official said, “As of date, 32 states/UTs have submitted action reports. Twenty states namely Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, and West Bengal have reported cases of irregularities, and action taken in 607 cases, against 62 department officials, 969 contractors, and 153 Third Party Inspection Agencies.”
Further, 9 FIRs have been registered against 20 officials, 10 contractors, and 1 TPIA. So far, a former minister, 10 officials, and 8 contractors have been arrested.
“The remaining 12 states and UTs — Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Himachal Pradesh, Lakshadweep, Mizoram, Pudducherry, Sikkim, and Telangana have submitted nil reports,” the official said.
Bihar and Telangana also did not share details about complaints received, but they provided tap connections through their own schemes. This year, however, Bihar has approached the Centre, seeking financial support to provide tap water connections to its remaining 7.5 lakh rural households, the official said.
The official also informed that 23 states have notified their operations and maintenance policy so far. The remaining 11 states and Union Territories are Haryana, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Ladakh, Lakshadweep, Maharashtra, Manipur, Punjab, Rajasthan, Telangana, and West Bengal.
New funds scheme
According to the official, the Centre has now decided to change the funding mechanism, and in the next phase of JJM, which is expected to be approved by the Union Cabinet soon, the Central Government will release funds scheme-wise. No lump sum money will be given to the states, the official said.
The official said that against the approval of the JJM budget of Rs 3.60 lakh crore, an amount of Rs 4.33 lakh crore has already been spent. If any assets created by state governments under JJM are not providing water to households, the Centre will not provide funds for them, the official said.
On May 21, The Indian Express published the findings of its investigation into data uploaded by states and UTs on the JJM dashboard, which showed how changes in the Mission’s guidelines three years ago lifted a crucial check on expenditure and led to cost escalations. The investigation found that this resulted in additional costs totalling Rs 16,839 crore for 14,586 schemes — an increase of 14.58 per cent from their estimated cost.
The Centre launched JJM in 2019 to provide tap connections to every rural household by 2024. While the mission ended in 2024, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced its continuation in her budget speech on February 1, 2025, with enhanced financial support till 2028. However, this move is yet to be approved by the Union Cabinet.
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