Samuhik Nalkup Yojana (Collective Tube Well Scheme)

What is Samuhik Nalkup Yojana?

Samuhik Nalkup Yojana, the collective tube well scheme, is run by the Directorate of Horticulture under the Agriculture Department, Government of Bihar. The scheme funds one boring shared by a group of farmers rather than a separate tube well for each, and pairs it with a mini-sprinkler or drip distribution set so that water reaches every member's plot without being lost in open channels.

According to reporting on the scheme, the group must have at least two farmers, each holding a minimum of about half an acre, and subsidy under Bihar's tube well components runs up to about 80 percent of the notified unit cost depending on the component and the applicant's category. The group names a chairperson who manages the shared boring, and members irrigate on an agreed rotation.

The problem this scheme addresses is specific to Bihar's land structure. Average holdings in the state are among India's smallest, and a private boring with a pump set is simply uneconomic on half an acre, the cost per irrigated acre is absurd. The result is that a great deal of Bihar's cultivable land is technically irrigable but practically rain-dependent, because no individual owner can justify the investment. Pooling three or four neighbours behind one boring changes that arithmetic completely.

How the shared system is meant to work

• One boring is sunk at an agreed point serving all members' plots.
• A pump set and a mini-sprinkler or drip distribution network carry water to each plot.
• The group's chairperson holds the operating responsibility.
• Members irrigate on a written turn order, with running costs shared.

Who is eligible for the collective tube well scheme?

You can apply if:

• You form a group of two or more farmers whose plots lie close enough for one boring to serve them all.
• Each member holds at least the notified minimum, reported at about half an acre.
• Every member has a 13-digit DBT Agriculture registration number from dbtagriculture.bihar.gov.in.
• Each member has land records in their own name, or a registered lease.
• The group can produce a written agreement naming the chairperson, the boring site and the irrigation turn order.
• The nominee has an Aadhaar-seeded bank account for the DBT release.

You cannot apply if:

• You are applying alone. A single farmer is not eligible under this component and should look at the Minor Water Resources Department's private tube well scheme at mwrd.bihar.gov.in instead.
• A member holds less than the notified minimum area.
• The plots are too far apart to be served by one boring and a shared distribution line.
• Any member has no land record and no registered lease.
• The same plots have already been served by a subsidised boring under this or a related scheme.
• Members' bank accounts are not Aadhaar-seeded, since payment is by DBT only.

How to apply for Samuhik Nalkup Yojana

1. Form the group. Agree on who is in it, where the boring will be sunk, who chairs it and what the irrigation turn order will be. Put all four in writing and have every member sign.
2. Ensure each member is registered at dbtagriculture.bihar.gov.in and has the 13-digit registration number. Registration is free.
3. Confirm each member's land record is correctly linked in their DBT profile, with khata, khesra, village and area.
4. Open horticulture.bihar.gov.in and go to the Scheme Dashboard. Find the collective tube well or micro-irrigation component for the current financial year.
5. Enter the lead applicant's DBT registration number and add the other members' registration numbers as the form requires.
6. Upload each member's Aadhaar, land records, bank passbook, and the signed group agreement.
7. Submit and save the application number on the confirmation screen. Give a copy of the acknowledgement to every member.
8. After sanction, get the boring sunk and the pump and sprinkler set installed, keeping every bill.
9. Request physical verification. The subsidy is released by DBT once the district horticulture office certifies the working installation.

How to apply with help

1. The group should visit the Assistant Director (Horticulture) at the district agriculture office together, or meet the block agriculture coordinator.
2. Carry every member's Aadhaar, land papers, bank passbook and DBT registration number, along with the signed group agreement.
3. Ask the office to file the online application for the group. There is no separate paper route.
4. Collect the printed acknowledgement.

A Vasudha Kendra can also file it, and can create DBT registrations for members who do not yet have one.

Which department to approach, an important distinction

Bihar runs more than one tube well scheme and applicants routinely apply on the wrong portal.

If your aim is a boring for your own land alone, the Minor Water Resources Department scheme is the right door. Samuhik Nalkup Yojana exists specifically for the case where no single farmer's holding justifies a boring.

How to check status and payment

1. Open horticulture.bihar.gov.in and go to the scheme dashboard.
2. Use the application status link for the tube well or micro-irrigation component.
3. Enter the lead applicant's DBT registration number or the application number.
4. The status reads submitted, sanctioned, installed, verified or paid.

Failed payments are almost always a bank problem on the DBT Agriculture profile of the member receiving the credit. Fix the account number and Aadhaar seeding there.

Why collective tube well applications fail

• Group too small, or a member falling below the minimum area.
• Plots too scattered for one boring to serve, which the technical inspection will pick up.
• No written group agreement, or an agreement without a named chairperson and turn order.
• A member's land record missing from their DBT profile.
• Work done before sanction, which is not reimbursable.
• Boring sunk at a different site from the one approved.
• Installation not working at verification — a boring without a pump or distribution set does not qualify.
• District target exhausted for the financial year.

The part farmers underestimate: the group itself

The engineering under this scheme rarely fails. The group does. A shared boring becomes a source of conflict the first time two members want water in the same week, or when one member stops paying his share of the diesel or electricity bill. The written turn order and the cost-sharing rule are not paperwork for the department's benefit. They are the only thing standing between the group and a dead installation two seasons later. Groups that also open a small common fund for repairs, and that agree in advance what happens if a member sells his land, last considerably longer.

Key dates

The component opens in a notified window each financial year on the Scheme Dashboard rather than running continuously, and the window is timed so that boring and installation can be completed and verified within the same financial year. Announcements come through horticulture.bihar.gov.in and the Bihar Krishi mobile app. Because a group application takes longer to assemble than an individual one, start collecting members' documents before the window opens.

Grievance and contact route

• Directorate of Horticulture, Bihar: 0612-2521772
• Email: dir-bhds-bih@nic.in
• District level: Assistant Director (Horticulture), district agriculture office
• For private tube wells: Minor Water Resources Department, mwrd.bihar.gov.in
• Kisan Call Centre: 1800-180-1551

Applying is free. Use a licensed boring contractor who gives a proper bill in the group's or lead applicant's name, and never pay a contractor in full before the boring yields water. A dry or collapsed bore is the most expensive way this scheme goes wrong.