A political controversy has erupted in Madhya Pradesh after the Congress accused the BJP-led state government of using AI-generated images to secure a prestigious national water conservation award for Khandwa district. The district administration has strongly denied the allegations, calling them misleading and false.
The row began after Khandwa district bagged first place at the national level under the Centre’s Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari campaign and received a ₹2-crore prize at the sixth National Water Awards ceremony held in New Delhi in November. Additionally, the Kaveshwar gram panchayat in the district won second prize in the best gram panchayat category.
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Jitu Patwari alleged that officials misused artificial intelligence to exaggerate development work. In a post on X, he claimed that shallow pits were projected as wells using AI-generated images, which were then uploaded on official portals to falsely showcase water conservation efforts. “Under BJP rule, corruption has also become smart,” Patwari said, adding that awards were obtained based on such fabricated visuals.
Responding to the charges, the Khandwa district administration held a press conference to refute the claims. District panchayat CEO Nagarjun B Gowda clarified that AI-generated images had no role in the National Water Award evaluation process. He said over 1.29 lakh water conservation works were carried out under the Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari campaign, and only verified images were uploaded after proper scrutiny.
Gowda further stated that the Union Jal Shakti Ministry independently verified the data and conducted random field inspections of one per cent of the works. He acknowledged that 21 AI-generated images were found on the separate Catch the Rain portal, meant only for educational and motivational purposes, and said action was being taken against those responsible.
He stressed that awards were not based on content from the Catch the Rain portal and accused certain social media accounts of spreading “prima facie false information” about Khandwa’s water conservation work.
