Maharashtra govt directs open inquiry into Fadnavis-era flagship scheme 'Jalyukt Shivar'

In a setback to BJP's Devendra Fadnavis, the Maharashtra government has commenced a probe in Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan, a flagship scheme during his tenure as CM. The MVA government had constituted a 4-member committee on December 1, 2020, in continuation with the state Cabinet's decision dated October 14, 2020, to ascertain the type of inquiry necessary for different works. The panel was headed by retired Additional Chief Secretary Vijay Kumar and included members such as Sanjay Belsare, the chief engineer of the Water Resources Department.

Accepting the recommendations in the report submitted by this committee, the Uddhav Thackeray-led government ordered an investigation into around 1000 works. In case of irregularities related to the tendering process, submission of wrong information, no actual execution on the ground despite payment to contractors, an open inquiry will take place while a department inquiry shall be carried out pertaining to procedural lapses and irregularities. An open inquiry implies that the police or the Anti-Corruption Bureau can summon anyone for investigation. 

The Jalyukt Shivar Abhiyan

This scheme was launched during Devendra Fadnavis’ tenure as the Maharashtra CM in December 2014.  Hundreds of villages in regions such as Vidarbha and Marathwada often tend to experience droughts for years together. The Jalyukt Shivar set an ambitious target of making 5,000 drought-prone villages free of water scarcity. Under this scheme, various water conservation initiatives such as the construction of farm ponds, rejuvenation of water storage capacity, building decentralized water bodies, and so forth were undertaken.

Overall, the scheme was implemented in 22,589 villages with 6.41 lakh works undertaken between December 2014 and March 2020. After assuming power, the Maha Vikas Aghadi government reportedly stopped funding this scheme. In its report tabled on the floor of the Maharashtra Legislature, the CAG observed that Jalyukt Shivar, under which Rs.9633.75 crore was spent, had failed to achieve its aim

It inspected 1128 alloted works in 120 villages in 6 districts- Solapur, Palghar, Ahmednagar, Buldhana, Beed and Nagpur. As per the CAG, the scheme had little impact on achieving water neutrality and increasing the groundwater level. Moreover, the country's topmost auditor remarked that there was a lack of transparency in the execution of projects under this scheme.