JJM in Chandel a “Complete Paper Scam”, says civil body; demands transparency, ground-level audit

Allegations of widespread corruption and gross manipulation have surfaced against the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in Chandel district, with local civil bodies accusing the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) of reporting false completion records while the ground realities show otherwise.
Speaking to media persons at Manipur Press Club today, Singul Larson, President of the Anal Lenruwl Tangpi, Maha Area, termed the JJM rollout in Chandel district as a “complete failure” and demanded immediate intervention from higher authorities. He said the mission, originally launched to ensure functional tap water connections to every rural household, has turned into a paper scam under the supervision of the PHED Chandel.
The Jal Jeevan Mission for Chandel district was earlier inaugurated by former Chief Minister N. Biren Singh with much fanfare. According to official data obtained via RTI, the PHED claims that 93 percent of the JJM project in the district has been completed. For Lenruwl village specifically, the official dashboard shows a 97.30 percent completion rate. However, Larson challenged the data, stating that no single household in Lenruwl village has received a functional tap water connection to date.
“The dashboard entries are false. They have counted five members of a single family as five different families just to inflate the completion percentage. In reality, out of more than 240 families in Lenruwl, not a single household has received tap water. Yet, official reports claim that 144 out of 148 households have been covered,” he said.
He further warned that such fraudulent practices must be investigated thoroughly, as they amount to the manipulation of public funds. “When we questioned PHED officials about the exact households that received tap water, they simply directed us to the JJM Dashboard — which itself contains falsified data,” Larson added.
Additional documents made available by the civil body indicate that this method of falsifying data has been replicated in many other villages in Chandel district, including Lambung, Chandel Christian, and others. For instance, while the JJM Dashboard claims that 130 out of 150 households in Chandel Christian have been provided with tap water, ground-level checks show that no such connections exist.
Further allegations also implicate Shri Romeo, an accountant at the SSA-SMA Babupura Imphal Head Office, of demanding illegal payments of ¹ 30,000 for repairs and ¹ 15,000 for toilet rejuvenation from headmasters and School Management and Development Committees (SMDCs) in order to release sanctioned school construction funds under the SSA scheme.
The civil organisation’s report also cited an RTI reply, showing massive discrepancies in the supply of pipes to Lambung village. While the DPR suggested 12,324 pipes were to be delivered — including 2800 pieces of 15 mm GI pipe and thousands of 32 mm and 50 mm dia pipes — only 2750 pipes were actually received, according to WhatsApp conversations between village officials and PHED staff.
The group alleged that some individuals with close ties to political figures, including sitting MLAs, are involved in lobbying for early release of funds in exchange for cash. “We won’t allow this corrupt ecosystem to thrive in the name of public welfare,” said TS Joseph, Secretary of the civil body, who co-signed the press statement.
Both leaders demanded immediate auditing of every village in Chandel covered under JJM and appealed to the responsible authorities to suspend fund release until proper verification is conducted.
“The government should act wisely and not be a silent facilitator to this corruption. We are prepared to bring evidence to substantiate our claims at any level,” the group asserted.