JJM scam must not be politicised: The water ghost ravages every constituency, from BJP to Congress bastions

The President Rule (PR) governance's silence in the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) scam is deafening in Manipur. Months of RTI exposés, lawmakers’ visits, and media outcry haven’t spurred a single fact-finding committee or probe. No official or contractor has faced consequences, even when villagers are ready to testify with hard evidence. 

This inaction isn’t just negligence—it smells like a cover-up. How else do you explain the PR governance’s apathy toward such a blatant fraud?

The JJM flagship poured over Rs 1,222 crore into quenching our perennial thirst in Manipur. Official portals shimmer with deceptive glory: 79.6% coverage, 3.59 lakh households "connected." 

Before 2019, only 26,000 of 4.5 lakh rural households—7%—had taps, a legacy of colonial neglect and post-independence apathy across 16 districts. But scratch beneath this glossy facade, and the ghost leers back—taps erected as hollow props for photo-ops, pipelines that snake into oblivion, and crores of rupees evaporating into the black holes of corruption. 

Water should flow as naturally as the morning dew across our rugged terrain, without politicising, nourishing every soul without discrimination. Yet, for far too long, a insidious "water ghost" has prowled our villages, a spectral thief conjured from the noble promises of the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). Envisioned in 2019 by the Government of India under the Ministry of Jal Shakti, JJM was meant to be our salvation: "Har Ghar Jal" by 2024, delivering functional household tap connections to every rural home and embodying the profound constitutional imperative of Article 21—the right to life and dignity through access to clean water.

I've pieced together the puzzle of this scam through my own gritty investigations—poring over RTIs, knocking on doors in remote villages, and cross-checking the JJM dashboard against the dust-choked reality. I've watched, with a mix of admiration and exasperation, as MP Angomcha Bimol Akoijam and fellow Congress leaders like Seram Neken Singh and youth leaders Ningthoujam Popilal Singh have thrust themselves into the fray, their voices echoing the cries of the voiceless. 

MP Bimol's swift filing of PIL No. 24/2025—admitted by the Manipur High Court on October 15 under Chief Justice M. Sundar—have been nothing short of a clarion call.  His fieldwork in 11 villages—from Nachou to Patsoi—uncovered the chasm: families triple-listed as beneficiaries, Village Water and Sanitation Committees (VWSCs) utterly clueless, and not a drop flowing despite the ledgers screaming success. The Congress Party's October 8 presser, branding it a "multi-crore discrepancy" statewide, amplified the outrage, demanding audits and Article 21 enforcement for at least two hours of daily supply. 

Their persistence has forced the ghost into the light, inspiring parallel PILs in Chandel, Senapati, and Tengnoupal, where locals decry non-implementation amid the ethnic strife that has gripped us since May 2023. In September 2024, a stark reminder of the challenges plaguing the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) unfolded in Koutruk village, where four vehicles belonging to the Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department were torched by Kuki militants. 

An official from PHED, speaking to the media, revealed the grim details: all four vehicles—essential for hand-pump drilling operations—were deliberately set ablaze, including a drilling machine vehicle, a water tanker, and supporting compressor units. This act of sabotage not only halted critical water infrastructure work but als exposed the volatile ethnic tensions that have gripped Manipur since May 2023, turning water delivery into a casualty of conflict and further entrenching the "water ghost" that denies our people their basic rights. 

Yet, here's where my blood truly runs cold: Why has Congress been left to unearth this water ghost alone? Why the thunderous silence from BJP, National People's Party (NPP) and the Naga People's Front (NPF), whose constituencies are equally ravaged—perhaps even more so, given their dominance in the valleys and hills? 

Take Sugnu AC, a Congress stronghold. My dashboard dives unearthed a nightmare—tap water hasn't trickled to a single beneficiary, and Waikhong Ningthoumanai village's VWSC is a farce. The former Pradhan, listed as chairman, and his member secretary? Utterly unaware when I cornered them; they've never even convened a meeting. Ghost entries abound: families with one tap listed as three or four separate households, unknown names padding the rolls, and schools Waikhong Uyung Khunou Primary schools and the non existence Nongdam Ngainaching Angawadi in Waikhong marked "connected". Even Pangaltabi Gram Panchayat has been marked 100 percent Functional  Household Tap Connection (FHTC) Coverage where all the 472 households got tap connection. 

This isn't isolated—it's the scam's signature, a repetition of names and inflated counts that's devoured crores of public money. Yet, amid the political blame game that’s erupted—pointing fingers at MLAs, ministers, and parties—I flatly deny the role of any political entity or individual legislator in this scandal. This is my preliminary observation, and I believe the real culprits lie among contractors and the water utility management teams of the concerned villages. 

The grilling should focus there, not on a political score-settling exercise. This ghost of JJM isn’t a partisan tool; it transcends party lines. I’ve noted MP Bimol, targeting mostly non-Congress Assembly Constituencies like Keirao, Thongju, Bishnupur, Konthoujam, and Patsoi in his crusade. But beyond party lines, he must widen his lens. My dashboard searches revealed discrepancies in some Congress AC as well—tap water hasn’t reached beneficiaries, 

Today, at this critical juncture, I feel a flicker of hope. On October 20, 2025, the Centre issued a directive—that could finally corner this ghost. It demands comprehensive reports from all states, including Manipur, on penalized contractors, agencies, and PHED officials, with blacklisting orders, fund recoveries, suspensions, and FIRs for shoddy work or misuse. 

Chief Secretaries must submit one-page FIR summaries with "ground truthing" audits to eradicate double entries, delays, and over-designing. Stemming from a top-level review and plans to extend JJM’s deadline to 2028, this move by the Department of Drinking Water and Sanitation (DDWS) signals a seriousness long overdue. 

Paired with Manipur High Court’s admission of MP Bimol’s PIL No. 24/2025 on October 15—seeking SIT probes, daily water rations, and responses by November 18—this is a pincer movement. 

This saga of Water Ghost is a deliberate betrayal of vulnerable communities who were promised something as basic as water. In places like Ukhrul, Senapati, Chandel, Tengnoupal, Noney, Bishnupur, and Imphal West, villagers are rightfully furious. They’re listed as "connected" to water supplies that don’t exist. No pipes, no reservoirs, no taps—just empty promises on paper. 

What’s infuriating is the role of officials who physically inspected these sites and still filed glowing reports. Were they coerced? Bribed? Or just complicit in a system that rewards lies? 

Whatever the excuse, their actions propped up a scam that robbed communities of their rights. Contractors, handed unchecked power, are the real culprits here. Awarded contracts without scrutiny, they self-reported “success” with no one bothering to verify. 

Village Water & Sanitation Committees were sidelined, left clueless about projects supposedly built in their name. This reeks of a cozy network where public funds are siphoned off while villagers are left high and dry.

The first scam of Jal Jeevan Mission in Manipur was unearthed on June 16, 2025, when Chandel's Anal Lenruwl Tangpi (ALT) Maha Area exposed PHED Chandel's declaration of 92% project completion via an RTI query. When pressed for granular, household-level tap water connection data, officials redirected applicants to the JJM online dashboard—a move now under High Court scrutiny. President Singul Larson branded it a "complete failure" and "paper scam" at Manipur Press Club, despite its fanfare inauguration by former-CM N. Biren Singh. 

Official data claimed 93% district completion; Lenruwl village hit 97.3% (144/148 households). Reality? Zero functional taps among 240 families. "They counted five family members as five households to inflate figures," Larson fumed. PHED stonewalled queries, pointing to falsified dashboards. Lambung got 2,750 of DPR-promised 12,324 pipes (2,800 of 15mm GI, thousands of 32mm/50mm), per leaked WhatsApp chats. Chandel Christian's 130/150 "connections"? Nonexistent.

In Phayeng village, Congress youth leader Ningthoujam Popilal exposed two government schools and four Anganwadi centers—dashboard-marked as "connected"—running dry. Thongju Constituency's investigative videos revealed pipelines leaking into fields, contractors vanishing post-payment. Women—70% of fetchers—lose hours daily, their labor a silent tax on progress.

On August 18, 2025, Several communities from Senapati—Poumai, Mao, Maram, Zeliangrong, Thangal—unite under activist R.K. Paul Chawang, petitioning Governor Ajay Kumar Bhalla. RTI yielded DPRs for 30 of 165 villages; 135 withheld despite dashboard "completions" (JJM: 32 villages, 30 done, 7,804 FHTCs; NDB: 103 villages, 12 done, 3,461 FHTCs—total 11,264 households). Isolated cemented taps sans pipes served photo-ops; water eluded all. "Crores siphoned, dignity denied," Chawang thundered, demanding third-party probes and prosecutions. Women testified to unsafe hauls; the petition urged data rectification.

This ghost isn't Manipur's alone—it's national, bipartisan filth. Rajasthan's Rs 1,000 crore tender scam: ED raids from January 2024 exposed fake IRCON docs by Shyam and Ganpati firms for 104 tenders. 

Congress lawmaker, Mahesh Joshi was arrested  in April 2025; ACB FIR November 2024 nailed 21 more. Jharkhand: ED hit Minister Thakur October 2024. Madhya Pradesh: Rs 136 crore, UP (Rs 30,000 crore), Andhra (Rs 4,000 crore misused)—BJP, Congress, JMM, YSRCP, all implicated. 

I've seen CSOs like ALT and Paul Chawang fight solo—valiant, but starved of oxygen. Political parties? Valley elites across BJP-Congress bicker over crumbs, ignoring hills. Congress youth like Neken and Popilal flag Thongju and Phayeng; MP Bimol sues—but where's BJP's and NPP fire? 

The water ghost of the JJM scam, unmasked by the tireless efforts of Congress leaders like MP Bimol Akoijam, Seram Neken Singh, and Ningthoujam Popilal, alongside grassroots warriors like Singul Larson and R.K. Paul Chawang, demands a united front—not a partisan battlefield. The silence from BJP, NPP and NPF, whose constituencies from Sugnu to Ukhrul bleed the same dry tears, is a betrayal of every villager, every child denied a sip, every woman bent under water pots. 

This ghost knows no party lines, ravaging Sekmai and Sugnu as fiercely as it does Keirao or Chandel, yet politicization festers where action is due. The Centre’s October 20 directive and Bimol’s PIL offer a lifeline—FIRs, audits, and blacklists must now flow into every constituency, backed by cross-party resolve, empowered VWSCs, and relentless CBI probes. 

This scam isn’t just about water; it’s about trust, accountability, and the basic dignity of communities left to fend for themselves. The PR government must launch an independent investigation, hold contractors and officials accountable, and ensure justice for those deceived.

Let this be the torrent that drowns the ghost, delivering not just water but justice, uniting Manipur’s mosaic under one cry: every drop reclaimed is a step toward dignity, not division. Water is life—don't politicize it.