Shivraj Singh Chouhan scolds officials over water scarcity in native village; Congress slams state govt

Bhopal: Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan admonished local officials after he received complaints of water shortage while on a tour of his native Jait village in Sehore district, some 40 kilometres from here. A video of Chouhan expressing displeasure during his trip on Saturday went viral on social media soon after, leading to the opposition Congress claiming that the situation would be far worse in other parts of the state if the native village of a person who has been CM for 17 years was facing a water crisis. After receiving complaints from residents, Chouhan turned towards local officials and said, “What is Jal Nigam doing? Water is not being supplied to my village. Is it my work to receive each application, and check each tap spout? I will review the situation after 15 days and you (officials) will not stay here if even a single complaint is received.” “This is not the way. Is it the CM’s work to see whether water is coming from each tap? Will people have to come to me for such small issues? The collector and commissioner will check the work you officials have done after 15 days,” he added. Chouhan asked officials to carry out a survey of the village, ensure water supply and submit a report on the situation in 15 days. A group scheme was implemented in several villages in Chouhan’s Budhni Assembly seat to provide tap water to every household. Hitting out at the state government, Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh tweeted, “Now, the officials will look into every water tap. The tap spouts were found broken in Jait, the native village of Mamu (referring to Chouhan). What would have been condition of the state, if this is the situation in your (Chouhan) village.” MP Congress spokesperson Narendra Saluja, while sharing the video showing the CM in Jait, said if “this is the condition of the native village of Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who has been CM for 17 years, then one can understand the situation in other parts of the state.”