Madhya Pradesh State Department Orders Probe Against Own Minister

Madhya Pradesh Public Health Engineering (PHE) Department has ordered an investigation against its own minister Sampatiya Uike following explosive corruption allegations linked to the Rs 30,000 crore Jal Jeevan Mission.

Chief Engineer (ENC) Sanjay Andhavan issued the inquiry orders after a complaint was sent directly to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the central government demanded a detailed report.

The inquiry centers around serious allegations that funds meant to bring clean drinking water to rural homes have instead been directed into personal coffers. The allegations stem from a letter sent to the Prime Minister on April 12 by former MLA Kishor Samrite. Mr Samrite alleged that Ms Uike took Rs 1,000 crore in commission, while former Chief Engineer BK Sonagariya is accused of siphoning off Rs 2,000 crore through his accountant Mahendra Khare.

Mr Samrite claims that top officials of the Jal Nigam's Project Implementation Unit (PIU) grabbed crores.

In Betul, an executive engineer allegedly withdrew Rs 150 crore from government accounts without executing a single project. Similar patterns of ghost work and massive fund withdrawals have been flagged in Chhindwara and Balaghat districts.

Mr Samrite has further alleged that nearly 7,000 fake completion certificates for non-existent water supply projects were sent to the Centre, raising fears that public money has been embezzled on an unprecedented scale. He has demanded a CBI investigation, warning that this could be one of the biggest scams in the country's history.

A letter has been dispatched to all PHE Chief Engineers and the Project Director of MP Jal Nigam, directing them to submit findings within seven days.

NDTV reached out to Ms Uike for a response, but she declined to comment.