Udaipur/Jaipur: Fresh allegations of serious financial irregularities have emerged in Rajasthan’s Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), where engineers are accused of facilitating massive payments to a contractor despite incomplete or questionable work under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM). The latest expose claims that officials, in collusion with contractor firm M/s Jagdish Prasad Agrawal, approved crores of rupees through manipulated records, fake entries, and suspicious supply claims in a major drinking water project in Udaipur division.
According to documents highlighted in the report, one of the most shocking claims involves the supply of pipes from a location nearly 1,600 kilometres away, where material was allegedly dispatched, received, verified, and payment processed all on the same day. The timing has raised serious doubts over whether any actual material movement took place or whether paperwork was fabricated merely to clear bills.
The report further alleges that empty stock registers and incomplete site records were used to justify payments worth crores. In several cases, no proper physical verification, measurement records, or usage logs were reportedly maintained before releasing funds. This has led to accusations that government money was disbursed without ensuring whether the work had been executed on the ground.
The contractor firm M/s Jagdish Prasad Agrawal has been accused of carrying out multiple fraudulent practices within a single project, including false billing, duplicate claims, irregular procurement entries, and manipulated documentation to secure repeated payments. Sources claim that despite receiving substantial funds, the actual progress of pipeline and water infrastructure remained far behind sanctioned targets.
The expose also points fingers at PHED engineers and supervisory officers who allegedly certified records, approved invoices, and ignored glaring discrepancies in transport timelines, stock entries, and work completion reports. Questions are now being raised over whether departmental officers deliberately enabled the misuse of public funds.
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The matter gains significance as Rajasthan is already witnessing multiple investigations linked to alleged irregularities in Jal Jeevan Mission works. Earlier this year, the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) arrested several senior PHED officials in connection with large-scale JJM tender and execution scams involving forged certificates and inflated contracts.
With this latest Udaipur case coming to light, demands are growing for a forensic audit of all payments made to the contractor, verification of material dispatch records, and accountability of engineers who certified the transactions. Public pressure is mounting for the state government and anti-corruption agencies to determine whether crores meant for rural drinking water schemes were siphoned off through fake paperwork while projects remained incomplete.
