What was asked
The Lok Sabha asked the Ministry of Jal Shakti for the complaints received under the Jal Jeevan Mission about financial irregularities, sub-standard work, incomplete connections and contractor malpractice, state by state and particularly for Uttar Pradesh; for Uttar Pradesh, the complaints by category, the Central funds involved, the inspections, third-party audits, FIRs, contractors blacklisted and funds recovered; and whether any Central assistance had been withheld, reduced or made conditional.
The ministry answered on 19 March 2026 that, as reported by the states and union territories, 18,790 complaints had been received from media reports, the states’ own notice, public representatives, citizens and grievance portals, and annexed a table by state. The table’s 34 rows add up exactly to its printed total of 18,790.
One state, most of the complaints
Uttar Pradesh reported 16,178 of the 18,790 complaints, 86.1%. The other 33 states and union territories together reported 2,612, and nearly half of those, 1,226, were in Assam. The next are Chhattisgarh (329), Rajasthan (176), West Bengal (173) and Karnataka (169).
In all, 10 states and union territories reported no complaint at all: Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Bihar, Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu, Goa, Lakshadweep, Puducherry, Sikkim and Telangana. The answer gives no date for the count, no period it covers, and does not say how each state counts a complaint. It does not say why the counts differ so much.
Source: Ministry of Jal Shakti, answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4457, 19 March 2026, Annexure. 10 States/UTs with no complaint are not drawn.
The same total four months later
On 23 July 2026, answering Starred Question 80 on investigations of complaints, the ministry again gave the total as 18,790, “as per the data reported by all States/ UTs”. Neither answer says on what date the count was taken, and the July answer does not say why the figure is unchanged.
What the answers do not give
For Uttar Pradesh the question asked for seven things the answer does not give: the complaints by category, the Central funds involved in the projects complained about, the number of inspections and of third-party audits, the FIRs registered, the contractors blacklisted and the funds recovered. The category-wise breakup, the ministry said, “is maintained at State level.” Asked whether any tranche of Central assistance was withheld, reduced or made conditional, it said that Central assistance is provided only on fulfilment of the mission’s and the Ministry of Finance’s guidelines; it did not say whether any was.
What Uttar Pradesh did report: enquiries have been started in all 16,178 of its complaints and reports submitted in 15,553, leaving 625 still under enquiry; and action against 120 contractors for delays in execution, with liquidated damages of Rs 340 crore. The answer does not say how much of that has been recovered, or what the 15,553 reports found.
The July answer was asked for the officials, contractors and inspection agencies against whom suspension, blacklisting, FIRs and arrests followed. It gives one number for each group across India: action against 635 departmental officials, 1,020 contractors and 155 third party inspection agencies. It does not split them by state or by kind of action, and does not give a count of FIRs or arrests.
An earlier audit of the same mission found a different gap in its figures: villages reported as having tap water against those certified by their gram sabhas.
Got it right
The state table adds up exactly, and a national count of complaints exists at all, compiled from every state although the complaints are handled by the states. Uttar Pradesh reports that it has started an enquiry into every complaint and has reports on 96.1% of them. The July answer gives the action taken against each of the three groups, and says that, as on 18 July 2026, 15.89 crore of 19.36 crore rural households, 82.09%, are reported to have tap water at home. Under the mission’s revised guidelines, Central assistance is to be released scheme by scheme for approved schemes.
Every state and union territory
| State / UT | Complaints | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| Uttar Pradesh | 16,178 | 86.1% |
| Assam | 1,226 | 6.5% |
| Chhattisgarh | 329 | 1.8% |
| Rajasthan | 176 | 0.9% |
| West Bengal | 173 | 0.9% |
| Karnataka | 169 | 0.9% |
| Maharashtra | 154 | 0.8% |
| Jharkhand | 152 | 0.8% |
| Tamil Nadu | 45 | 0.2% |
| Uttarakhand | 40 | 0.2% |
| Madhya Pradesh | 37 | 0.2% |
| Kerala | 25 | 0.1% |
| Jammu & Kashmir | 24 | 0.1% |
| Manipur | 19 | 0.1% |
| Nagaland | 14 | 0.1% |
| Meghalaya | 8 | under 0.1% |
| Punjab | 6 | under 0.1% |
| Haryana | 4 | under 0.1% |
| Odisha | 4 | under 0.1% |
| Himachal Pradesh | 3 | under 0.1% |
| Gujarat | 1 | under 0.1% |
| Ladakh | 1 | under 0.1% |
| Mizoram | 1 | under 0.1% |
| Tripura | 1 | under 0.1% |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 0 | 0% |
| Andhra Pradesh | 0 | 0% |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 0 | 0% |
| Bihar | 0 | 0% |
| Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu | 0 | 0% |
| Goa | 0 | 0% |
| Lakshadweep | 0 | 0% |
| Puducherry | 0 | 0% |
| Sikkim | 0 | 0% |
| Telangana | 0 | 0% |
| Total (printed) | 18,790 | 100.0% |
How we did this
- Source: the Ministry of Jal Shakti’s answer to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4457, answered on 19 March 2026, and its Annexure; and its answer to Lok Sabha Starred Question 80, answered on 23 July 2026.
- Adds up: the 34 rows sum exactly to the printed total; Uttar Pradesh’s row is the figure the text gives for it.
- We searched the Lok Sabha’s index of answers after 19 March 2026 for later answers on Jal Jeevan Mission complaints; Starred Question 80 is the one that gives a national figure.
- Download the data: jal-jeevan-complaints-by-state-2026-03-19.csv. Our method and labels are on the Data Audit method page.
Questions
Does a complaint mean something went wrong?
No. A complaint is a report that something may have gone wrong, from a newspaper, a citizen, a public representative, a grievance portal or the state's own notice. The answer does not say how many complaints were found true.
Why does Uttar Pradesh have so many more complaints than other states?
The answer does not say why. It does not say how each state counts a complaint, over what period, or whether complaints taken up on the state's own notice are counted the same way everywhere.
Who handles complaints under the Jal Jeevan Mission?
The states. Drinking water is a state subject, and the ministry said complaints about sub-standard work and financial irregularities are handled and disposed of at the state or UT level, and that the category-wise breakup is maintained at state level.
What action has been taken across India?
As reported by the states and UTs, action against 635 departmental officials, 1,020 contractors and 155 third party inspection agencies, the ministry said on 23 July 2026. It gave no split by state and no separate count of FIRs or arrests.
Where does the data come from?
From the Ministry of Jal Shakti's answers to Lok Sabha Unstarred Question 4457, answered on 19 March 2026 (with its Annexure), and Starred Question 80, answered on 23 July 2026.
Corrections
No corrections so far. If any figure here is wrong, send the correcting document to editor@oquilia.com and we will correct it and record the change on this page.