Meghalaya contractors move High Court over Rs 900 crore unpaid JJM bills

A group of contractors in Meghalaya has gone to the High Court of Meghalaya over what it says are about Rs 900 crore in unpaid bills for drinking water works already completed under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM).

The Khasi Jaintia Government Contractor & Supplier Association (KJGCSA) and 11 other petitioners filed a writ petition on October 27, The Shillong Times reported. The case is listed for hearing on Monday, November 3.

What the contractors want

The petitioners have asked the court to direct the Centre and the state government to clear dues for works carried out under the original JJM framework, along with statutory interest for the delay.

They say the Public Health Engineering (PHE) department issued completion certificates after departmental and third-party inspections, yet did not release payment. Under the original JJM operational guidelines, payments were due within 30 to 45 days, the petition argues. The work covered gravity mains, distribution networks, and the retrofitting and augmentation of existing water supply schemes across several districts, much of it financed by the contractors' own capital and bank loans.

Caught between JJM and JJM 2.0

The dispute also points to a funding gap between the Centre and the state. According to the association, the Centre has declined to release its share for retrofitting and augmentation schemes, even though the state issued those work orders under the original JJM rules. The contractors argue that the later switch to JJM 2.0 cannot be used to deny payment for work sanctioned and finished under the earlier guidelines.

The petition lists repeated attempts to settle the matter: a representation to the PHE Chief Engineer on April 20, 2026; a meeting on May 6 attended by the department's minister, where the pending liabilities were acknowledged but linked to administrative hurdles such as expenditure reconciliation, a new operation and maintenance policy, the JJM 2.0 memorandum of understanding, scheme IDs and the SNA-SPARSH payment system; and further appeals to the minister and the Chief Minister.

At an August 10 meeting, an Additional Chief Engineer reportedly told the association that JJM 2.0 payments would depend on physical and financial progress, with single-village schemes at 75% or more financial progress getting priority. Divisions were asked to send proposals for balance amounts on retrofitting works for possible state funding.

The figures and claims are those made in the petition. The state government's response will be known when the matter is heard; NEInsider will update this story after the hearing.