The Nagaland Transparency, Public Rights Advocacy & Direct Action Organisation (NTPRADAO) has refuted the clarifications given by Minister for PHED, Jacob Zhimomi, to the allegations of funds misappropriation amounting to ₹1712.03 crore by the Department under Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) in the State.

While welcoming the proposed ‘enquiry committee’ as announced by the Minister during an interview, the group offered to delegate a member to be an “associate member” in the commission to prevent a “whitewash”. It claimed to have “all the documentary evidences i.e. videos, photos and measurements … to thoroughly verify at grassroots level through the enquiry commission.”

It had earlier the Chief Minister to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the allegations.

Read more: NTPRADAO alleges 1712.03 Crores Mega JJM Financial Scam in Nagaland, demands SIT

In its press release, the NTPRADAO presented its point by point rebuttal of the Minister’s clarification:

1. It maintained that the 92% success rate of household tap coverage in the first phase under JJM in Nagaland was not so in reality and alleged that “actual portal JJM records and ground realities are mismatched and incoherent”. Citing examples of some villages in the district of Peren, Phek, Wokha, Kiphire and Tuensang, the Organisation also claimed that it has “hundreds upon hundreds of Villages datas to show that the JJM ground level implementation is very poorly executed at the ground level.”
2. On the Minister’s clarification that the PHED only supervises the project, the NTPRADAO questioned how the department “turned blind eyes to officially certify” sub-standard and poorly executed constructions by the WATSAN (Water and Sanitation) Committee and the contractors. It specifically mentioned the constructions in Riphyim New village under Wokha district and Singrep village under Kiphire district examples as examples that shows that central JJM engineering guidelines were not followed.
3. On the Minister’s justification on the quality of pipes, the Organisation stated that it had not mentioned anything about the quality in its 4-pages write-up.
4. It countered the PHED Minister’s claim that “his department did not receive funds as stated” by stating that the details of the funds received till date for the project were extracted from the JJM dashboard, Ministry of Jal Shakti (GoI)

Read more: PHED Minister clarifies on NTPRADAO’s allegations against him and Department

5. The group has insisted on its accusations against PHED officers from the past and present for misappropriation of funds.
6. The NTPRADAO alleged that the evaluation report submitted to the Ministry of Jal Shakti by an independent third party, as mentioned by the Minister, was flawed. “Everybody knows that the central government led by BJP party will handle Nagaland’s PHED with kid gloves and blindly certify it,” it stated.
7. The group denied that there was “absolutely no ulterior motive to tarnish the PHED Minister’s public image, but the NTPRADAO due to greater general public interest is raising up such an important issue.”
8. On the Minister’s claim that the PHED has not received complete funds, it stated, “it is in the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s JJM Portal for all to see.” The Organisation further said that it is the Department’s responsibility to get all the earmarked funds for completion of rest of the JJM scheme.
9. To the Minister’s “little knowledge is dangerous” snipe at the NTPRADAO, the group replied “a thief is a thief, whether he steals a diamond or a cucumber”.
10. On the Minister’s remark that “law will take its own course of action”, it said that if any action is initiated against the NTPRADAO, it would “respond with a tit-for-tat repercussions with a far reaching consequences and wider ramifications.”

Further, the Organisation has questioned the silence of apex civil society organisations (CSOs) of Nagaland on the alleged multi crore scam in the State. “… if any underground faction demands money and if caught, there is a lot of public outcry and condemnation. However, if ministers and bureaucrats are siphoning crores upto thousand crores, unfortunately the public are silent..” the NTPRADAO stated.