Notice to 20 teachers for uploading AI images for water harvesting campaign in M.P. after Congress alleges manipulation in securing award

At least 20 teachers, including the District Education Officer (DEO), have been issued notices in Madhya Pradesh’s Khandwa for allegedly uploading AI-generated images as part of a water conservation project, after the Congress claimed that the district administration had won a national award based on fake images.

On Monday, December 29, 2025, State Congress chief Jitu Patwari alleged corruption by the Madhya Pradesh Government and uploaded AI-generated images on a government portal to ensure award to President Droupadi Murmu.

However, the Khandwa district administration denied allegations that the AI-generated images were uploaded on a portal that had nothing to do with the award. The district has been ranked first in the country for its outstanding work in the field of water conservation under the Centre’s ‘Jal Sanchay, Jan Bhagidari (JSJB)’ campaign. Collector Rishav Gupta and Jila Panchayat CEO Nagarjun B Gowda had been awarded ₹2 crore for the district by Ms Murmu at the sixth National Water Awards ceremony held in New Delhi on November 18.

“Where the BJP government should be teaching our children the proper use of AI, it is itself indulging in corruption by using AI. In Khandwa, the BJP government officials used AI to convert 2-metre deep pits into wells and uploaded AI-generated images of various development works in the area on the portal. They even received an award from the President based on these images,” Mr. Patwari said in an X post.

“When the real truth came to light, fields and wastelands were found there. Clearly, this was not water conservation but an illusion created by technology,” he claimed, claiming that even corruption “has become smart under the BJP government”.

To talk HinduMr. Gowda denied the accusations and said the portal where some AI-generated images were uploaded was different from the portal where the administration uploaded pictures and details of rainwater harvesting systems being constructed across the district. The administration won the award for building more than 1.29 lakh such systems, the official added, adding that this award was not given just on the basis of pictures.

“As part of the campaign, images and details such as location of government works are uploaded on the JSJB portal of the Union Ministry of Jal Shakti after multiple reviews. Officials physically verify each work and only the district administration can access this portal,” Mr. Gowda said, adding that the work was also verified by State officials before being submitted to the Union Government.

“In June, a team from the Ministry of Jal Shakti conducted physical verification of more than 1,500 random sites. The reward was announced after all the reviews,” he added.

The CEO also said that the JSJB portal was closed about six months ago and the AI-generated images were published on the Catch the Rain (CTR) portal in October for information, education and campaign (IEC) purposes.

“To promote rainwater harvesting, all government employees and public representatives have been advised to install collection systems in their homes. Some teachers who did not install the systems uploaded fake images on the CTR portal to show off the work. The images on the internet are from this portal, which has nothing to do with the JSJB campaign and government work,” said Mr. Gowda, adding that a notice was issued to the DEO as the fake images were uploaded using his office’s login credentials.

Mr. Gowda said responses from all 20 people have been received and further action will be taken accordingly.