More than 17K complaints received under Jal Jeevan Mission: Centre

New Delhi: The Jal Shakti ministry on Monday said more than 17,000 complaints of financial irregularities and poor quality works have been received under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the last three years and the current year, with Uttar Pradesh alone accounting for 84 per cent of them.

In a written response in Rajya Sabha, Minister of State for Jal Shakti V Somanna said according to data submitted by 32 states and Union (Territories) UTs, 17,036 complaints were received from various sources including media reports, suo motu cognisance, public representatives, citizens and grievance portals.

He said action has so far been taken against 621 departmental officials, 969 contractors and 153 third party inspection agencies (TPIAs) across the country.

Uttar Pradesh reported the highest number of complaints at 14,264, far exceeding all other states.

“The state of Uttar Pradesh has reported that it initiated enquiries in all 14,264 complaints received from various channels including suo moto cognisance and the report has been submitted in 14,212 cases while the enquiry is under process in 52 cases. The state has further reported that against these complaints, action was taken in 434 cases which involves 171 department-level officials, 120 contractors and 143 TPIAs, while remaining complaints have either been addressed or found irrelevant,” he said.