New Delhi [India], November 25 (ANI): The Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) has come underneath intense scrutiny as 287 central nodal officers, appointed on the route of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, carried out intensive floor verification of mega and single-village water provide tasks throughout practically 473 villages, protecting schemes price near Rs 1.30 lakh crore.
The inspections have been carried out as a part of the Centre’s push for strict monitoring and a zero-tolerance stance towards monetary, procedural and quality-related violations underneath the mission.
According to officers, the states have been repeatedly instructed to make sure that each criticism is examined promptly, area verification is carried out at once, and all required disciplinary, contractual, and authorized actions are taken with out exception. Transparency and accountability stay non-negotiable pillars of the scheme, because the Prime Minister emphasised.
Feedback submitted by the central nodal officers revealed vital performance gaps in mega water provide schemes, the place 68 per cent of the villages inspected reported common water provide, 6 per cent reported irregular provide, and 26 per cent have been discovered to be non-functional.
The deficiencies have been largely attributed to delays in commissioning, upkeep points, and shortages of skilled employees. In distinction, single-village schemes confirmed stronger efficiency, with 94 per cent of villages reporting common water provide and solely 2 per cent discovered to be non-functional.
Following the identification of gaps, the Centre directed states to deal with essential observations, rectify implementation weaknesses, and submit action-taken studies. Chief Secretaries of all states have been formally requested to expedite pending irregularity instances, significantly these earlier than vigilance our bodies such because the Anti-Corruption Bureau, Lokayukta, and others.
ANI has learnt that 20 states–including Assam, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, and West Bengal–have reported instances of irregularities and submitted action-taken particulars in 607 instances involving 621 departmental officers, 969 contractors, and 153 third-party inspection companies.
Action taken to date consists of 579 departmental proceedings, 12 suspensions, penalties imposed on 531 officers, blacklisting or debarment of 236 contractors, termination of 116 contracts, and the removing of 143 officers from third-party inspection roles. Further, 9 FIRs have been registered in opposition to 20 officers, 10 contractors, and one TPIA. Arrests embody one former minister, 10 officers, and eight contractors.
Prime Minister Modi has repeatedly emphasised that there needs to be zero tolerance for corruption. JJM was launched in 2019 to make sure consuming water for each rural family. At the time of its launch, solely 3.23 per cent of rural households had faucet water connections. As of November 2025, 15.7 crore rural households have been supplied faucet water connections underneath the mission. (ANI)