Khandwa | Khandwa, Madhya Pradesh, was awarded the President's Water Award for water conservation. Questions are now being raised about this. Allegations are being made that the photos uploaded to the government portal, claiming to be of Khandwa, were created using artificial intelligence. While Jitu Patwari has been targeted by the government after the matter came to light, the District Collector has offered an explanation. 

President Draupadi Murmu honored him.

In fact, on November 18, 2025, Khandwa was honored by President Draupadi Murmu at Vigyan Bhavan in Delhi for its commendable work in water conservation. Kaveshwar, the best Gram Panchayat, ranked second in the country. Khandwa ranked first in the country for its "Water Conservation and Public Participation" initiative under the Government of India's "Catch the Rain" program. The award was accompanied by a sum of ₹2 crore (approximately $20 million). Collector Rishav Gupta and District Panchayat CEO Dr. Nagarjuna Gowda received the award, and photographs of the ceremony were also released.

AI photos uploaded on government portal

Before the awards ceremony, nominations are required to upload photos and other necessary documents to government portals to explain and demonstrate their progress. In this context, the photos uploaded by Khandwa district to the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) program portal and the Catch the Rain (CTR) portal are AI-enabled. The logos of the sites that generated these photos are also included.

Jitu Patwari took aim

Congress state president Jitu Patwari has taken aim at this entire issue. In a post on the social media site X, he wrote that while the BJP government should be teaching our children the proper use of AI, it is itself engaging in corruption using AI. In Khandwa, BJP government officials, in the name of water conservation, converted two-foot-deep pits into wells using AI and uploaded AI-generated images of various development projects throughout the region to a portal.

He further wrote that on the basis of these photographs, an award was even taken from the Honorable President. When the ground reality was revealed, it turned out to be fields and empty fields. Clearly, this was not water conservation, but a game of technologically engineered images. Corruption has also become smarter under BJP rule.

The clarification presented by the administration

A clarification has been issued on this matter from the official account of the Khandwa Collector. The post states that unfortunately, some social media accounts are spreading what appears to be fake news regarding the water conservation works being undertaken by Khandwa district. It is clarified that Khandwa district was awarded the Honorable President's Award for constructing the highest number of water conservation works (over 1.25 lakh) in the entire country under the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari (JSJB) program. A separate JSJB portal was available for the JSJB program. Only verified photos were uploaded on the JSJB portal after careful and thorough scrutiny by the district administration at the block and district levels.

Talking about action against those responsible, the post stated that in addition, there is another portal called Catch the Rain (CTR), where IEC photos related to water conservation are generally uploaded for educational and motivational purposes only. It has come to the attention of the district administration that approximately 20 AI-generated photos were uploaded to the CTR portal, possibly with malicious intent. The district administration is taking action against the individuals who uploaded these approximately 20 AI-generated photos.