ACB Cracks Down on Jal Jeevan Mission Scam, Arrests Nine Officials
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) of Rajasthan has made a significant breakthrough in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) corruption case, arresting nine individuals in a major operation conducted on Tuesday. The arrests include six serving senior officials from the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) and three retired engineers, following coordinated raids across multiple locations in Rajasthan and New Delhi.
Widespread Raids and Search Operations
According to ACB sources, simultaneous searches were carried out in Jaipur, Barmer, Udaipur, Karauli, New Delhi, and other areas. These actions were linked to a First Information Report (FIR) registered by the ACB in 2024. During the operation, teams also attempted to locate a recently-retired senior IAS officer but were unable to trace him, indicating the investigation's expanding scope.
Alleged Irregularities in Tender Awards
The case centers on large-scale irregularities in the awarding of tenders under the Central government's Jal Jeevan Mission, which aims to provide rural tap water connections. ACB officials stated that the investigation uncovered a scheme involving two companies: Ganpati Tubewell Company, owned by Mahesh Mittal, and Shyam Tubewell Company, owned by Padamchand Jain.
These firms allegedly submitted forged work completion certificates, purportedly issued by the government-owned IRCON International Ltd, to secure contracts valued at approximately Rs 960 crore.
Collusion and Manipulation of Tender Conditions
The ACB has accused senior PHED officials of colluding with the two companies to manipulate tender conditions. Investigators found that a mandatory site-visit certificate was introduced for major projects worth over Rs 50 crore, in violation of established norms. This move was allegedly designed to expose bidders' identities, facilitate tender pooling, and enable inflated premiums, which were later approved by department officials.
List of Arrested Officials
The serving officials arrested in the operation are:
- Chief Engineer (Administration) Dinesh Goyal
- Chief Engineer (Rural) K D Gupta
- Additional Chief Engineer (Jaipur Zone-II) Subhanshu Dixit
- Financial Advisor (Renewable Energy) Sushil Sharma
- Chief Engineer (Churu) Niril Kumar
- Suspended Executive Engineer Vishal Saxena
The retired officials taken into custody include:
- Former Additional Chief Engineer Arun Shrivastava
- Former Chief Engineer and Technical Member D K Gaud
- Former Superintending Engineer Mahendra Prakash Soni
Financial Impact and Ongoing Investigation
The ACB estimates that the irregularities have led to corruption amounting to thousands of crores of rupees, severely impacting public funds intended for rural water supply projects. Officials have emphasized that further investigations are underway, and more actions are likely as the probe continues to unfold.
This case highlights ongoing challenges in implementing large-scale government schemes and underscores the need for stringent oversight to prevent such malpractices.
