Rajasthan: ED arrests former Congress minister in Jal Jeevan Mission scam case

Congress leader and former Rajasthan minister Mahesh Joshi was on Thursday arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in a case pertaining to the alleged misappropriation of funds meant for the Union government’s safe water scheme, India Today reported.

Joshi was the public health engineering department minister in Rajasthan during the Ashok Gehlot government, which lost power in December 2023.

In November, the Rajasthan Anti-Corruption Bureau filed a case against Joshi and 21 others, accusing them of embezzling funds in collusion with officials and contractors of the public health engineering department while implementing the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme in Rajasthan.

The central government scheme was launched in 2019 to provide piped water connection and safe drinking water to all rural households by 2024. In Rajasthan, the public health engineering department was responsible for implementing the scheme in the state.

The Enforcement Directorate’s investigation stems from another September 2023 case filed by the state’s anti corruption bureau against two tubewell contractors who were accused of obtaining government tenders worth Rs 900 crore by submitting fake work completion certificates, The Indian Express reported.

Padamchand Jain and Mahesh Mittal, who are proprietors of the tubewell companies, and others, were accused of bribing public servants to secure tenders, approve bills and cover up irregularities in contracts under the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme. It was also alleged...

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