Union Jal Shakti Ministry alerts states about fraud in the name of Jal Jeevan Mission

Union Jal Shakti Ministry has written a letter to chief secretaries of all states alerting them about a fraud in the name of Jal Jeevan Mission and asked them to bring to the notice of the ministry on finding such matters.

The move came after the CBI, on complaint by the ministry headed by Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, unearthed a fraud involving crores of rupees.

"I received certain complaints about an NGO operating from different states and cheating people in the name of Jal Jeevan Mission. The NGO was signing MoUs for providing people with contracts in the mission. I then asked officials to file a complaint with CBI and the agency has arrested two persons in this connection,” he told reporters here.

The action was taken in March under which the NGO founder Suresh Kumar Verma and manager Subhash Singh were arrested and several fake MoUs were recovered.

Shekhawat said he had received complaints from several states including Rajasthan, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana that money was taken in the name of awarding contracts for works related to Jal Jeevan Mission and Jal Shakti Abhiyan.

In the investigation, the CBI found that the Delhi-based RS Foundation, registered as an NGO, was signing agreements with people in the name of getting them contracts. The foundation used to show contractors the fake documents of agreement between it and the Ministry of Jal Shakti to win their confidence.

He said the NGO took crores of rupees from people in the name of getting them work contracts.

Shekhawat informed that his ministry has written a letter to chief secretaries to all the states asking them to bring to the notice of the ministry on finding such matters.