MP: Congress claims national water conservation award won with AI-images; administration rejects charge

Indore/Khandwa: The Congress on Monday accused the Madhya Pradesh government of corruption, claiming that the Khandwa district administration won a national water conservation award using AI-generated images, a claim dismissed by authorities.

Khandwa district secured first place nationwide for outstanding work in water conservation under the Centre's 'Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari' campaign. The district received a Rs 2 crore award at the sixth National Water Awards ceremony held in New Delhi in November, officials said.

They said the Kaveshwar panchayat in Khandwa district also won the second prize in the best gram panchayat category at the ceremony.

Taking to social media platform X, MP Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged, "Where the BJP government should teach our children the proper use of AI, it is itself indulging in corruption using AI. In Khandwa, officials of the BJP government turned two-foot-deep pits into wells using AI and uploaded AI-generated images of various development works across the area on the portal".

On the basis of these images, they even took an award from the Honourable President, he alleged.

"When the ground reality came to light, fields and empty grounds were found there. Clearly, this was not water conservation but a game of technology-created images. Under the BJP rule, corruption has also become smart," he added.

As the controversy over the allegations linked to the National Water Award escalated, the Khandwa administration held a press conference to clarify its position.

District Panchayat Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Nagarjun B. Gowda said uploading AI-generated images had no connection with the National Water Award.

He said "verified images after thorough scrutiny" of 1,29,046 works carried out under the 'Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari' campaign were uploaded on the campaign's JSJB portal.

Gowda said the Union Jal Shakti Ministry verified all these images and also conducted random field inspections of one per cent of the total works.

"Prima facie, false news about water conservation works carried out in Khandwa district is being spread by some social media accounts," he added.

He said photographs related to water conservation are uploaded on another portal named 'Catch the Rain' only for educational and motivational purposes.

"The district administration has found that 21 images generated through AI were uploaded on the Catch the Rain portal. This was possibly done with malicious intent. Action is being taken by the district administration against those who uploaded these images," the CEO added.

"The Catch the Rain portal is completely different from the Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari campaign portal. Awards under the Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari campaign are not considered on the basis of images uploaded on the Catch the Rain portal," Gowda added.

More than 1.25 lakh water conservation works were carried out in Khandwa district under the 'Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari' campaign, the highest in the country, he added.