Saur Sinchai Yojana

What is Saur Sinchai Yojana?

Saur Sinchai Yojana is a solar irrigation scheme of the Department of Agriculture, Government of Himachal Pradesh. The scheme, whose name means solar irrigation and which is also written as Saur Sinchayee Yojana, provides solar-powered pump sets to farmers so that water can be lifted for irrigation without diesel and without waiting for a grid connection.

The problem Saur Sinchai Yojana addresses is geography. Himachal Pradesh has plenty of water in its khads, kuhls and streams, but the water is almost always below the field. Gravity flow irrigation, which works in the plains, is of limited use on a hillside. Most farmers who want assured irrigation have to lift water, and lifting means a pump. A diesel pump ties the farmer to a fuel bill that has to be carried up a hill road, and an electric pump needs a connection that many hamlets do not have. A solar pump removes both constraints: it is expensive to buy and almost free to run.

The scheme was announced with a stated outlay of Rs 230 crore and a target of 5,850 agricultural pump sets, expected to bring about 7,152.30 hectares of farmland under assured irrigation. The Agriculture Department has said it bears the energy cost for farmers under the programme, which in the case of a solar pump means the capital cost of the panels rather than a recurring tariff.

What assistance does Saur Sinchai Yojana give?

Saur Sinchai Yojana grades assistance by who is applying. The graded structure is the most important thing to understand before filing, because the difference between applying alone and applying as a group is up to 20 percentage points of the pump cost.

A group of small and marginal farmers, a Kisan Vikas Sangh or a registered body of farmers can therefore receive full financial assistance for a pump set. That is deliberate. A single small holding in Himachal Pradesh rarely justifies a pump of usable capacity on its own, whereas five or six neighbouring holdings sharing one lifting point and a common delivery tank do. Farmers who file jointly get a better pump, a lower share of the cost each, and a stronger case at the block office.

The assistance covers the solar pump set, the panels, the pump and the associated installation. Delivery pipes, storage tanks and field channels are normally the farmer's own responsibility unless supported under another irrigation scheme of the department.

Who is eligible for Saur Sinchai Yojana?

You can apply if:

• You are a farmer of Himachal Pradesh cultivating land in the state.
• The land to be irrigated is recorded in your own name, supported by a jamabandi or nakal.
• You are a small or marginal farmer and want the 90 per cent rate, or a medium or large farmer accepting the 80 per cent rate.
• You are applying as a group of small and marginal farmers, a Kisan Vikas Sangh or a registered body of farmers, in which case up to 100 per cent assistance applies.
• You have a usable water source, a khad, kuhl, stream, well, borewell or tank; within lifting range of the field, and the right to draw from it.
• You hold a bank account in your own name for direct benefit transfer.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not a farmer of Himachal Pradesh.
• The land is not in your name and you have no recorded lease or written consent from the owner.
• You have no assured water source. A solar pump with nothing to lift is not sanctioned, and this is the commonest technical rejection.
• You want the pump for domestic supply, a hotel, a construction site or any non-agricultural use. It is an agriculture irrigation scheme.
• You have already received a subsidised pump set for the same land under this or another irrigation programme, including the central solar pump programme.
• You are claiming the group rate without registration papers for the group.

How to apply for Saur Sinchai Yojana

1. Go to your block agriculture office. The Agriculture Development Officer or Subject Matter Specialist at your development block is the first point of contact and will tell you whether solar pump sets are being sanctioned in the current year and under which head.
2. Approach your Kisan Vikas Sangh or farmer development organisation. The registration form for the scheme is issued through these bodies, and if you are aiming at the 100 per cent group rate you need to be enrolled in one.
3. Form the group and record it, if applying jointly. List the member farmers, their holdings and the common water source and delivery point, and attach the group's registration certificate.
4. Register on the AgriDBT portal. Open agridbt.hp.gov.in, the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Department's application portal, create a farmer profile with your Aadhaar and mobile number, and file the application online where the scheme is available there.
5. Attach the documents — residence certificate, Aadhaar card, bank account details, land documents and voter identity card, along with details of the water source and, where needed, permission to lift from it.
6. Get the site surveyed. Departmental staff assess the water source, the lift height, the distance and the area to be irrigated, which together decide the pump capacity that can be sanctioned.
7. Wait for the sanction before ordering any equipment. Buying a pump first and applying later almost always fails.
8. Install through the approved route and claim. Complete installation, keep the invoices and the installation certificate, and submit the claim to the block office. Payment is made by direct benefit transfer into the registered account.

How do I check my application status?

Log in to agridbt.hp.gov.in with your registered credentials and use the application status option for any application filed online. For a case filed through a Kisan Vikas Sangh or on paper at the block, follow it with the Agriculture Development Officer at the development block and then the Deputy Director of Agriculture at the district headquarters.

The Department of Agriculture publishes these contacts: 0177-2830162 and 0177-2830618, toll free 1800-180-1551, email krishibhawan-hp@gov.in and fax 0177-2830612.

Why do applications get rejected?

• No assured water source, or a source that dries up in the months when irrigation is actually needed.
• Lift height or distance beyond what the sanctioned pump capacity can serve.
• Land not in the applicant's name, or a group member's holding not documented.
• Group registration papers missing, which drops a 100 per cent case to the individual rate.
• Duplicate assistance already taken for a pump on the same land.
• Purchase made before sanction.
• No budget under the head for that year. Saur Sinchai Yojana does not appear as a standalone entry on the Agriculture Department's current scheme list, so in any given year the availability of solar pump assistance has to be confirmed locally.

What is the current status of the scheme?

Saur Sinchai Yojana was announced as a flagship solar irrigation programme of the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Department with a Rs 230 crore outlay. As of the department's current scheme listing, it is not shown as a separate scheme. The state schemes listed by the department include the Flow Irrigation Scheme, under which community works are borne fully by the government and borewell and shallow well construction at individual level carries 50 per cent subsidy, and Jal Se Krishi Ko Bal Yojana, under which check dams and ponds are constructed and the stored water is then used through individual small lift irrigation schemes or flow irrigation schemes as required.

That matters practically. A farmer wanting a solar pump today should ask the block agriculture office which head the assistance is being given under this year, rather than assuming the Saur Sinchai Yojana rates are live. The rates quoted in this guide to 80, 90 and 100 per cent, come from the scheme as announced and widely reported, not from a current departmental notification, so get the applicable rate confirmed in writing before you commit money.

What are the key dates?

No last date has been announced for Saur Sinchai Yojana. The Agriculture Department works on the financial year ending 31 March, and sanctions are made against that year's allocation, so applications filed early in the year stand a better chance.

Irrigation has its own timing. A pump that is commissioned after the sowing window has passed does nothing for that season's crop. Work backwards from the kharif or rabi sowing date in your belt and allow several months for survey, sanction and installation.

Where do I complain if something goes wrong?

The first point of contact is the Agriculture Development Officer at your development block, followed by the Subject Matter Specialist and the Deputy Director of Agriculture at the district headquarters.

The Department of Agriculture, Himachal Pradesh can be reached on 0177-2830162 and 0177-2830618, on the toll free line 1800-180-1551, or at krishibhawan-hp@gov.in. Problems with the AgriDBT portal should be reported to the same office.

Keep the application acknowledgement, the sanction letter, the survey report, the pump invoice and the installation certificate together. Under a scheme where the subsidy is released after installation, those five papers are what settle a delayed payment.