J&K House panel flags oversight failures in Jal Jeevan Mission rollout

A Jammu & Kashmir Assembly committee has flagged systemic failures in the implementation of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the Union Territory, pointing to collapsed oversight, a disputed change of pipe material and the exclusion of local governance bodies from the scheme's execution.

The 1,252-page report, tabled in the Assembly on September 21, caps a year-long investigation by the House Committee headed by former High Court judge and sitting National Conference MLA Hasnain Masoodi. Its findings describe what it calls gross negligence across the administrative machinery tasked with delivering the flagship water scheme.

The committee drew on departmental records, Detailed Project Reports, tender documents and whistle-blower accounts. It also conducted field inspections of schemes across J&K, met residents, stakeholders, engineers and district officials, and examined data on source failures and water quality.

At the centre of the findings is the failure of the Apex Level Committee set up to monitor JJM implementation at various levels. The report says the panel did not discharge the mandate laid down in its constituting order and Terms of Reference, and that the same neglect extended to the Executive Committee, District Level Committees and the officers who staffed them. The consequence, it notes, was the absence of proper planning, supervision and effective monitoring.

The committee also questioned the decision to move from Galvanized Iron (GI) pipes to High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) pipes three years after the Mission began. It held the Apex Level Committee responsible for permitting a decision of such significance to be taken at a lower level, suggesting this was done to avoid accountability for the outcome. The switch, made in the Jammu Division, was carried out without proper revision of the DPRs, the report says.

Other issues flagged include alleged negligence in the maintenance and safety of stores, misplaced priorities, substandard civil works and irregularities in laying the pipe network.

On community participation, the report states that while JJM had carved out a defined role for institutions down to gram panchayats and pani samitis, on-site visits found these bodies were kept out of all facets of the scheme. The denial of the role mapped out for Panchayati Raj institutions, gram panchayats and their sub-committees, it says, enabled gross irregularities by JJM engineers and contractors on the ground.

The departmental response recorded in the report attributes slow initial progress to the constitutional changes of August 2019, which it says cost nearly four to five months, followed by winters and the COVID-19 pandemic. It also notes that execution methods underwent substantial changes in the first two years, and that models tried elsewhere in the country — handing an entire district or scheme to a single company — did not succeed in J&K because of geographical constraints, road connectivity and a shortage of local skilled manpower.

The committee has recommended setting up a High Level Committee to enquire into lapses by members of the various committees. It has also urged that the panel examine the procedure followed by the UT-level purchases committee in awarding contracts for DI, GI and HDPE pipes and other material, and fix responsibility on officers, officials, contractors, suppliers or agencies found involved in the procurement, approval or use of substandard material.