Jal Jeevan bills trigger power tussle

Metro India News | AMARAVATI

The release of The release of funds for works executed under the Jal Jeevan Mission has reportedly triggered friction within the Andhra Pradesh administration, highlighting competing pressures from contractors, the Finance Department and Deputy Chief Minister and Panchayat Raj Minister Pawan Kalyan.

According to sources, the Centre released funds about a month ago to the Panchayat Raj Department for pending Jal Jeevan Mission works. With contractors awaiting payment for completed projects, the expectation was that the available funds would be distributed against pending bills according to established priorities.

Instead, sources alleged that a substantial portion of the funds was initially used to clear bills of a major contractor, leaving many others waiting. They claimed the decision followed intense lobbying and pressure at various levels of the administration.

The issue soon acquired political significance because the Jal Jeevan Mission comes under Pawan Kalyan's Panchayat Raj portfolio. Contractors who felt overlooked reportedly approached the Deputy Chief Minister, alleging discriminatory treatment in bill clearances.

Sources said Pawan Kalyan took serious note of the matter and questioned how funds intended to clear accumulated liabilities could allegedly be concentrated on one contractor while several others with legitimate pending bills remained unpaid. The issue subsequently reached Finance Minister Payyavula Keshav, prompting discussions between the two senior coalition leaders.

Following the intervention, sources said the Finance Department facilitated additional releases to clear the dues of other eligible contractors, easing the immediate dispute. The controversy did not end there. Soon afterwards, senior IAS officer Sashi Bhushan Kumar, who was serving as Principal Secretary in the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department, was transferred, triggering speculation in administrative and political circles that the Jal Jeevan Mission payment issue had contributed to the decision.

What drew greater attention was his subsequent appointment as Principal Secretary in the Water Resources (Irrigation) Department, another key portfolio handling projects involving substantial public expenditure. Within bureaucratic circles, the move was described as a case of being "kicked upstairs" rather than sidelined.

Political and administrative sources alleged that the influential contractor linked to the payment controversy used his access within the government to secure the officer an important alternative posting. However, there is no official confirmation establishing such a connection, and the transfer order does not cite the bill-payment dispute as the reason. The episode is significant because it concerns an issue Pawan Kalyan has repeatedly emphasised—transparency and accountability in departments under his charge. It also underscores the political influence wielded by large contractors executing projects across multiple departments.

For the Deputy Chief Minister, the controversy became an early test of his administrative authority when confronted with powerful financial and contracting interests. His reported intervention and the subsequent release of payments to other contractors sent a message within the Panchayat Raj establishment.

Yet Sashi Bhushan Kumar's transfer to another influential department has raised a broader question: when a senior officer is shifted after a controversy but immediately accommodated in an equally significant position, does it reflect accountability or merely administrative relocation?

Although the immediate payment dispute appears to have been resolved, the larger questions over who influences fund releases, how contractors gain access to the power structure, and where ministerial authority ends and bureaucratic-contractor influence begins are unlikely to fade soon.