CAG flags data discrepancies in Gujarat’s Har Ghar Jal claim

The Comptroller and Auditor General has flagged discrepancies in data used to report Gujarat’s 100% functional household tap connection coverage under the Jal Jeevan Mission, saying it could not vouch for the reliability of the data.

According to the e-Jalshakti portal and the State Annual Action Plan, Gujarat had declared 100% functional household tap connection coverage, covering 91.18 lakh rural households, by October 2022. However, the District Annual Action Plans of 27 districts showed 14.84 lakh households were waiting for functional household tap connections as on April 1, 2024.

“Due to this contradiction, Audit could not vouch for the reliability of the data,” CAG said in its report tabled in the Gujarat assembly on Friday.

“The absence of basic records, discrepancies between State Annual Plans and District Annual Plans, and mismatched figures between State Annual Action Plan and District Annual Action Plans collectively reveal issues in data reliability,” it said.

In its response, the state government said districts could only upload incremental progress on the Jal Jeevan Mission dashboard and could not modify opening or closing balances. It said the mismatch was technical and procedural and maintained that the goal of providing safe and adequate drinking water through tap connections to all rural households had been achieved.

Gujarat had 91.18 lakh rural households when the Centre launched JJM on August 15, 2019, with the goal of providing a functional household tap connection (FHTC) to every rural home by 2024, on a 50:50 cost-sharing basis between the Centre and the state.

At the mission’s launch in 2019, 65.16 lakh households or 71.46% of the total already had tap connections through earlier schemes.

The audit also found that all 18,024 villages in Gujarat had been reported as Har Ghar Jal compliant, but only 16,920 villages, or 93.87%, had achieved certification as on August 2025.

Also, the report said that reported water connections did not always translate into the prescribed water supply. In four of the six test-checked districts, 71,842, nearly 15% of the surveyed households, remained without functional household tap connections as of November 2024.

Its analysis of 493 bulk water meters installed on a pilot basis at village storage tanks in four districts found that 193 meters recorded an average daily supply below 55 litres per capita over 24 months, while 296 meters recorded zero supply for at least one full month.

The audit also found delays in major projects.

Of 11 bulk pipeline projects undertaken by Gujarat Water Infrastructure Limited, five were completed with delays of 8 to 25 months and six remained in progress. Of 111 Gujarat Water Supply and Sewerage Board works examined in six districts, only 41, or 36.94%, had been completed by December 2024.

The report also cited gaps in water quality monitoring.

Only 46 of Gujarat’s 249 talukas had a taluka-level laboratory. Also, it said 26% samples tested before the monsoon and 24% of post-monsoon samples lifted between 2019 and 2024 were found to be unfit.

Against total funds of ₹19,471.61 crore, the state utilised ₹19,128.18 crore (98.23%) during 2019-24.