Uttar Pradesh topped the list in complaints received with 14,264 — over 85 per cent of the total so far — while Assam came a distant second with 1,236 followed by Tripura (376)
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, The Indian Express has learnt.
Sources told this newspaper that seven related cases were being examined by the CBI,
Lokayukta and other anti-corruption agencies.
Together, these 15 states and UTs received 16,634 complaints and submitted inquiry reports in 16,278 cases, the sources said.
Uttar Pradesh topped the list in complaints received with 14,264 — over 85 per cent of the total so far — while Assam came a distant second with 1,236 followed by Tripura (376).UP was also in the top bracket when it came to action taken against officials and contractors. The state took action against 171 officials followed by Rajasthan (170) and Madhya Pradesh (151). In action taken against contractors, Tripura was at the top (376) followed by UP (143) and West Bengal (142).
The 15 states and UTs that have submitted information in this regard also included Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Ladakh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Uttarakhand.
The response from states followed a directive in October from the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS), which oversees the scheme under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, months after the Centre deployed over 100 teams of nodal officers for “ground inspection” of JJM schemes across the country.Bihar and Telangana also did not share details about complaints received but the two states had provided tap connections through their own schemes.
Sources said DDWS officials reviewed the response from the 15 states and UTs last week and were pursuing the matter with the other states.
Last month, DDWS had sent letters to Chief Secretaries of states, asking them to submit reports by October 20 on Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) officials against whom disciplinary action, suspension, removal, or FIRs have been initiated in connection with complaints related to poor quality of work or financial irregularities in JJM projects.
The Department had also asked the states to share a status report on actions taken against contractors and TPIAs. It had also sought information regarding penalty imposed on contractors, the number of contractors who have been blacklisted and against whom FIRs have been filed, and recovery action has been initiated. The department’s move came after a top-level review meeting in the first week of October.
