Barmer District Collector Tina Dabi on Tuesday strongly rejected allegations circulating on social media that claimed the same photograph was repeatedly uploaded to show water conservation work across different villages and projects. Addressing a press conference, the IAS officer termed the claims “baseless, misleading and completely false,” and said they were aimed at tarnishing the image of the district administration.
Dabi said Barmer had recently received national recognition under the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari programme and was awarded by the President, along with reward money, for outstanding work in water conservation. She stressed that the award was a matter of pride for the entire district and was not linked to the screenshots being circulated online.
Clarifying the issue, the Collector said the allegations were wrongly connecting the award to data uploaded on the Jal Shakti Abhiyan portal, which is an old information portal used to upload details of various works undertaken in the district. She explained that the award was given under the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari initiative, and not on the basis of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan portal data.
Dabi said the district administration was verifying the screenshots mentioned in the social media posts. If any incorrect photographs were found uploaded on any portal, they would be rectified through proper verification, and strict action would be taken against any official found responsible.
She alleged that attempts were being made to deliberately malign the Barmer administration and question a moment of pride for the district.
Meanwhile, another social media post also alleged that IAS officer Ria Dabi, Tina Dabi’s sister, had uploaded a wedding invitation card instead of photographs of river construction work in Kookara Kheda village of Gogunda block. The administration has not yet issued a separate response to this claim.
