YSR Jala Kala Scheme

What was the YSR Jala Kala Scheme?

YSR Jala Kala was an Andhra Pradesh government scheme that drilled free borewells for farmers. YSR Jala Kala was launched on 28 September 2020 and was implemented through the Panchayat Raj and Rural Development Department, with groundwater and rural water supply engineering wings doing the technical work.

The scheme addressed a specific and expensive problem. A private borewell in coastal Andhra or Rayalaseema can cost a small farmer a large multiple of a season's margin, and a dry bore leaves that money simply gone. YSR Jala Kala took both the cost and the risk off the farmer: the state paid for the survey, absorbed the cost of a failed bore, and handed over a working well.

What the package covered

• Free drilling of the borewell or tube well.
• A free motor pump set.
• Free installation accessories; pipes, cabling and fittings.
• Free energisation. The electrical connection to the completed well.

The state announced an outlay of about Rs 2,340 crore for the scheme. Reported coverage under it runs to roughly 3 lakh farmers and irrigation for about 5 lakh acres, though those are announcement-stage figures rather than audited completion numbers, and should be read as indicative.

Current status. YSR Jala Kala is not accepting applications. Its dedicated portal, ysrjalakala.ap.gov.in, no longer resolves, and secondary scheme trackers record the scheme as closed with no fresh online or offline applications being invited. This page therefore documents what the scheme was and what happened to applicants, rather than offering a live application route.

Who was eligible for YSR Jala Kala?

A farmer could apply if:

• The farmer held a minimum of 2.5 contiguous acres of agricultural land in Andhra Pradesh.
• The land had no existing working borewell or tube well.
• The land fell in a groundwater zone assessed as safe, semi-critical or critical, but not over-exploited.
• The land records showed the holding in the applicant's own name.
• Smaller holders could combine: farmers with less than 2.5 acres each could apply as a group where their adjoining plots together crossed the threshold and could be commanded by a single well.

A farmer was not eligible if:

• The land lay inside a groundwater over-exploited zone. This was a hard technical bar, not a discretionary one, because sanctioning a new bore there would deepen the depletion the state was trying to arrest.
• A functioning borewell already existed on the holding.
• The holding was below 2.5 acres and no group application had been formed.
• The applicant was a government employee.
• Another member of the same family had already been sanctioned a free bore. Andhra Pradesh tightened this rule during the scheme's run so that one bore per family became explicit.

Priority in selection was given to small and marginal farmers, SC and ST farmers, and women farmers where demand in a mandal exceeded the sanctioned number of bores.

What documents were required for YSR Jala Kala?

How to apply for YSR Jala Kala

The steps below record the process as it operated while the scheme was open. New applications are not currently being invited.

1. Check groundwater feasibility for the village. The Groundwater Department classification decided whether any application from that area could be entertained at all, so this was the first filter.
2. Apply online on the YSR Jala Kala portal by entering Aadhaar details, selecting the survey number of the holding and uploading the land record.
3. Or apply offline at the Grama Sachivalayam, submitting the printed form with copies of the Aadhaar card and land record to the Village Agriculture Assistant or Village Revenue Officer.
4. Wait for field verification. The Village Revenue Officer verified ownership, extent and the absence of an existing bore, and the technical wing confirmed groundwater feasibility.
5. Receive the sanction intimation, which was sent by SMS to the registered mobile number.
6. Allow the departmental agency to execute the work — drilling, pump set installation, accessories and the electricity connection. The farmer paid nothing and did not contract the rig directly.
7. Have the completed bore geo-tagged, which the department did as a record of the asset created.

Why YSR Jala Kala applications were rejected

• Over-exploited groundwater zone, by far the most common technical rejection.
• Existing borewell already recorded on the holding.
• Land below 2.5 acres with no valid group application.
• Land record mismatch, the survey number or the name in adangal not matching the Aadhaar-linked applicant.
• Family already served under the one-bore-per-family rule.
• Applicant in government service.
• Dry bore on drilling, where the well was completed technically but yielded no usable water. The cost was absorbed by the state, but the farmer received no working asset.

What Andhra Pradesh farmers should do now

Because YSR Jala Kala is closed, a farmer needing irrigation support should:

• Ask at the Rythu Seva Kendram in the village for the list of currently active agriculture and irrigation schemes, which changes with each state budget.
• Look at micro-irrigation support, drip and sprinkler systems under the central Per Drop More Crop component, delivered in Andhra Pradesh through the horticulture and agriculture departments, which remains the most widely available irrigation subsidy for small holdings.
• Check farm mechanisation and custom hiring centre schemes at the mandal agriculture office if the requirement is equipment rather than water.

How to get help

• Grama and Ward Sachivalayam helpline: 1902, the state's general welfare and scheme grievance number.
• Village Agriculture Assistant / Rythu Seva Kendram, for what is currently open in your village.
• Mandal or District Panchayat Raj engineering office, for questions about a bore sanctioned under YSR Jala Kala that was never completed or has since failed.

If you were sanctioned a bore under YSR Jala Kala and the work was never executed, raise it as a written grievance at the Sachivalayam and at the district Panchayat Raj engineering office rather than assuming the sanction lapsed with the scheme.