SHILLONG, Dec 9: Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma has clarified that the delay in releasing over ₹700 crore in payments to contractors working on Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) projects in Meghalaya is due to a nationwide halt in fund disbursement imposed by the Centre pending an audit of the scheme.

“The funds for JJM have been stopped at the central level for all state governments. So, there are no funds being released to any states as of now. Not just Meghalaya, but the whole country,” Sangma said on Tuesday.

He explained that JJM was initially planned as a mission-mode programme set to conclude in March 2024. While the Union Cabinet had first decided to close the scheme, it later resolved to extend it until the completion of ongoing projects — subject to a comprehensive audit of all works carried out nationwide.

“The (Union) Cabinet put a condition that there will be an audit conducted for all the schemes implemented throughout the country, and only once the audit is completed for all the schemes, only then the Finance Ministry will release the funds,” the Chief Minister stated.

Sangma assured contractors and the public that the issue is not specific to Meghalaya and that the Centre is expected to release funds once the mandatory audit is finalized.

“We do expect that things will be streamlined… the decisions have been made, and the final implementation is going on, including the audit mandated by the Union Cabinet,” he said.