The Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) initiative, launched on 6 September 2024 by the Ministry of Jal Shakti is a campaign designed to turn water conservation into a mass movement. JSJB follows a whole of society approach mobilising communities and private partners to create low cost artificial water recharge structures—such as rooftop rain water harvesting systems, recharge pits and the revival of defunct borewells etc—using a combination of scientific technology and traditional methods, across urban and rural India, encouraging philanthropic contributions, corporate social responsibility, community participation and voluntary labour . Structures are built through convergence of existing schemes such as MGNREGA, the District Mineral Fund, CAMPA funds, community participation, CSR and philanthropy. Thus, the scheme is field centric with local administrations at the centre of action.

Implementation is monitored via the JSJB Dashboard, an online platform that tracks every recharge structure using GIS coordinates, geo tagged photographs and financial details. Entries submitted by districts are subjected to multi tier scrutiny by district authorities and the Ministry, and at least one per cent of the works are independently field verified to ensure quality and authenticity and remaining 99% percent are desk verified to rule out any manipulation . Based on these verified entries, the Ministry of Jal Shakti presented the First JSJB Awards on 18 November 2025 at Vigyan Bhawan, recognising districts, NGOs, individual philanthropists and industry associations for exemplary water conservation efforts. Incentive amounts awarded must be reinvested in water conservation activities, thereby reinforcing the mission’s objectives.

Recently, certain social media posts have alleged that the National Water Awards were secured by uploading AI generated or duplicate images, invitation cards, or by portraying minor pits as larger water bodies. Some posts have even circulated screenshots and old unrelated images from the Catch the Rain (CTR) portal to suggest that the awards were based on these images. These allegations are factually incorrect and misleading. Evaluation for the JSJB Awards is conducted solely on the basis of entries available on the JSJB Dashboard .  

The CTR portal is an entirely separate platform , and images posted there are not considered for awards. While a small number of AI generated or duplicate images were detected on the CTR portal, they have no bearing on the JSJB award process and have been dealt with by the concerned districts. District administrations have clarified that the questioned photographs were from the CTR portal and were never part of award submissions. The National Water Mission has also verified the images circulating on social media and confirmed that they do not pertain to JSJB works.

The Ministry of Jal Shakti therefore categorically rejects claims of manipulation or misuse of images in the JSJB Awards. Such misinformation misleads the public, demoralises field officers and community volunteers, and undermines a major national effort to enhance India’s water security. The Ministry remains committed to transparency and accountability, rigorous verification of works and corrective action wherever irregularities are detected.

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AMK

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