Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers for Installation of Submersible / Centrifugal Motor Pumpsets With Accessories

What is the pumpset subsidy for Scheduled Caste farmers in Puducherry?

Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers for Installation of Submersible / Centrifugal Motor Pumpsets With Accessories is a farm mechanisation and irrigation subsidy run by the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Territory of Puducherry. The scheme pays a 90% subsidy up to Rs 60,000 towards installing a suitable submersible or centrifugal motor pumpset, together with its accessories, on a registered tubewell.

A tubewell is only useful once a pump is on it. The Department therefore runs two linked subsidies: one for constructing the tubewell itself, and this one for the pumpset that lifts the water. The Scheduled Caste variant carries a higher rate than the general category version, which pays 65% up to Rs 50,000. Both are listed on the Department's own scheme page under Farm Mechanization and Micro Irrigation.

The scheme is back-ended. The farmer arranges the permit, constructs the tubewell, installs the pumpset, meets the cost from personal funds or a bank loan, and then claims the subsidy against original bills. There is no advance payment.

How much is the pumpset subsidy and how is it paid?

The Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare pays:

• 90% of the cost of a suitable submersible or centrifugal motor pumpset with accessories
• subject to a maximum of Rs 60,000 per tubewell per individual

The mode of payment depends on how the work was financed:

• If you carried out the construction with your own funds, the subsidy is released through the Electronic Clearing System (ECS) into your bank account.
• If you availed a loan from a nationalised bank or a co-operative bank towards the construction of the tubewell, the subsidy is remitted to the bank against your loan account, reducing the outstanding principal.

Only one claim is allowed per tubewell per individual, and a farmer who has already received this subsidy within the last five years cannot claim again.

Who is eligible for the Scheduled Caste pumpset subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste category and hold a caste certificate from an officer not below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.
• You are a farmer in the Union Territory of Puducherry.
• The tubewell on which the pumpset will be installed is registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry.
• You hold a minimum of 1.5 acres under the command area of the tubewell, with a clear ownership title deed, and you have owned that land for at least two years. The 1.5 acres may stand in your name, your spouse's name, or in the name of a member of a joint or undivided family.
• You are willing to execute a bond not to convert the land to non-agricultural use for 10 years from the date of construction of the tubewell or filter point.

You cannot apply if:

• You are not from the Scheduled Caste category. General category farmers apply under the parallel 65% scheme instead.
• You have already availed the subsidy for the same purpose within the previous five years.
• Your holding under the command area is below 1.5 acres, or you have held the land for less than two years.
• The tubewell is not registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
• You are unwilling to execute the 10-year non-conversion bond and the notarised affidavit.

Farmers who intend to sell, mortgage or transfer the land within 10 years are not eligible, because the affidavit specifically forecloses that.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the pumpset subsidy offline

1. Obtain the mandatory permit for construction of a new or replacement tubewell from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry. Nothing else can proceed without it.
2. Decide on the drilling machinery. Applicants in the Puducherry region who want departmental machinery should approach the concerned office. Applicants who want to use private machinery must approach the same office to obtain a No Objection Certificate, and the private rig must be registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
3. Construct the tubewell. The Agricultural Officer (Engineering) inspects during construction to record the details of the pipes and other materials used, so keep the site accessible and the material bills in order.
4. Collect the prescribed application form after the construction work is complete, from the Office of the Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, or, for Karaikal, from the Office of the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal.
5. Fill in all mandatory fields, paste the passport-sized photograph, and attach self-attested copies of the caste certificate, land ownership certificate, ground water authority documents, original bills, Aadhaar, Farmers Identity Card and bank passbook page.
6. Submit within 90 days of completing the tubewell or filter point construction work. On receipt, the office records the application in its register and assigns a unique seniority number, which doubles as your acknowledgement and is quoted in all further correspondence.
7. Submit the notarised affidavit on selection, undertaking the 10-year restriction on sale, mortgage, transfer and non-agricultural conversion.

How to apply online through the e-District portal

1. Open the Puducherry e-District portal at edistrict.py.gov.in and click Login at the top right of the home page.
2. Click Register a New Membership and fill in the username, password, full name, email address, current address, gender, date of birth and mobile number, agree to the declaration, enter the captcha and click Signup.
3. Log in with the new username and password. The next screen lists the Government of Puducherry schemes department-wise.
4. Select this scheme under the Department of Agriculture to open its online application form.
5. Fill in every field marked with a red asterisk and upload the mandatory documents, self-attested where required.
6. Tick the declaration and submit. Note the application number shown on screen; it is also sent to your registered mobile number and email.
7. Track progress on the portal's Track Application page using that number.

How do I check the status of my application?

Online applicants track the file on the e-District portal's Track Application page with the application number. Offline applicants quote the unique seniority number issued at the counter and follow up with the State Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady or the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. The seniority number matters: sanctions under this scheme are released against the annual allocation broadly in the order applications were registered.

Why applications get rejected, and how to fix them

• Application filed after 90 days from completion of construction. This is the single hardest deadline in the scheme.
• Tubewell not registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, or the energisation certificate missing.
• Command area under 1.5 acres, or the title deed not clear, or ownership shorter than two years.
• Caste certificate issued by an officer below Deputy Tahsildar rank. The rank requirement is explicit.
• Original bills not produced, or, in loan cases, the bank's certificate missing.
• Subsidy already drawn within five years for the same purpose.
• Affidavit not furnished after selection, which stalls release even when the file is otherwise clean.

Where a beneficiary is later found to have sold, mortgaged, transferred or converted the land inside the 10-year window, the Government may take legal action for breach and recover or cancel the subsidy.

Where to raise a grievance

Contact the Director of Agriculture, Puducherry on 0413-2336977, or write to diragri[dot]py[at]gov[dot]in. For the tubewell and pumpset components specifically, the Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady is reachable on 0413-2240908, 0413-2251644 and 0413-2251641. Karaikal applicants should contact the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal, on 04368-230679.

The Department also publishes a grievance redressal note and a citizen's charter on agri.py.gov.in. No fee is charged for the application form or for registration under this scheme.