Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers for Sinking Tubewell

What is the Scheduled Caste tubewell subsidy in Puducherry?

Assistance to Scheduled Caste Farmers for Sinking Tubewell is a groundwater irrigation subsidy of the Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Union Territory of Puducherry. The Department grants a 90% subsidy towards the construction of a tubewell or filter point, subject to a maximum of Rs 1,80,000 per tubewell or filter point per individual. The Standard Operating Procedure specifies that the total cost incurred on constructing the tubewell is the base on which the 90% is calculated.

The scheme is the Scheduled Caste counterpart of the general category tubewell subsidy, which pays 65% up to Rs 1,50,000. The higher rate and the higher ceiling are the whole point of running two separate notifications: a well that costs Rs 2,00,000 to sink leaves a general category farmer with Rs 50,000 of his own money in the ground and a Scheduled Caste farmer with Rs 20,000. Since the capital cost of a well is the single biggest barrier to a small Scheduled Caste holding moving from rainfed to irrigated cultivation, the differential is where the scheme does its work.

A companion pair of schemes covers the pumpset that goes into the finished well, at 90% up to Rs 60,000 for Scheduled Caste farmers and 65% up to Rs 50,000 for general farmers. A farmer sinking a new well normally files under both the construction scheme and the pumpset scheme.

Groundwater in Puducherry is regulated. Every new or replacement tubewell needs a permit from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, and the Department will not entertain a claim on an unpermitted well. The scheme therefore doubles as a compliance route, pulling wells into the permitted, registered and supervised category.

Who is eligible for the Scheduled Caste tubewell subsidy?

You can apply if:

• You belong to the Scheduled Caste community.
• You are an Indian national and a native of the Union Territory of Puducherry by birth, or have been a continuous resident of Puducherry for the past five years.
• You have obtained the permit to sink a new or replacement tubewell or filter point from the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
• The tubewell was constructed through a departmental power rig or hand bore set, or with a No Objection Certificate from the Agriculture Department for engaging private drilling machinery registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, under departmental supervision.
• You hold a minimum of 1.5 acres under the command area, with a clear ownership title deed held for at least two years. The eligible holding may stand in your name, your spouse's name, or in the name of a member of your joint or undivided family.
• The casing pipes carry a BIS certificate and were purchased from M/s PASIC Ltd or an authorised dealer on the Department's list.
• You will execute a bond not to convert the land to any purpose other than agriculture for 10 years from the date of construction.

You cannot apply if:

• You do not belong to the Scheduled Caste community. General category farmers apply under the separate 65% scheme, which has a Rs 1,50,000 ceiling.
• You cannot establish nativity by birth or five years of continuous residence in Puducherry.
• You drilled without a Ground Water Authority permit, used an unregistered private rig, or drilled outside departmental supervision without an NOC.
• Your command area holding is below 1.5 acres, the title is unclear, or ownership is shorter than two years.
• You have already availed the subsidy for the same purpose within the last five years.
• Your casing pipes lack BIS certification or came from outside PASIC and the authorised dealer list.
• You will not execute the 10-year non-conversion bond.

How much is paid and how is the claim verified?

The subsidy is 90% of the total cost incurred, capped at Rs 1,80,000 per tubewell per individual. It is back-ended: the farmer meets the cost, completes the work under departmental supervision, and then claims against original bills.

A departmental committee scrutinises the claim before release. For the Puducherry region the committee is the Head of Office, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation; the Deputy Director (Agricultural Engineering) in charge of drilling machinery; and the Agricultural Officer (Engineering) in charge of drilling machinery. For Karaikal it is the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal; the Deputy Director (Agricultural Engineering), Karaikal; and the Agricultural Officer (Engineering) in charge of the subsidy scheme. The committee examines the vouchers and bills submitted, satisfies itself that they are genuine, and recommends release. Approval of the beneficiary list rests with the Joint Director or Additional Director (Agricultural Engineering).

Where the well was financed by a bank loan, the claim is supported by attested copies of the original bills plus a certificate from the bank, and the subsidy is adjusted against the loan account. Where the farmer paid from personal funds, the money is released to the farmer's own bank account.

What documents are required?

How to apply for the Scheduled Caste tubewell subsidy

1. Get the permit first. Apply to the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority, Puducherry for the mandatory permit to construct a new or replacement tubewell or filter point.
2. Decide the drilling route. Applicants in the Puducherry region wanting departmental machinery approach the concerned office. Applicants using private machinery approach the same office for a No Objection Certificate, and the rig must be registered with the Pondicherry Ground Water Authority.
3. Drill under supervision. The Agricultural Officer (Engineering) inspects during construction and records the specification of pipes and other materials used, which is later matched against your bills.
4. Collect the prescribed form once the work is complete: in the Puducherry region from the Office of the Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit and Soil Conservation, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, and in the Karaikal region from the Office of the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. It can also be downloaded from agri.py.gov.in.
5. Fill in every mandatory field, paste the passport-sized photograph, sign across it where required, and attach the community certificate, nativity or residence proof, land ownership certificate, Ground Water Authority permit and registration or energisation letter, the NOC and rig licence if applicable, the original bills, and copies of Aadhaar, Farmers Identity Card and the bank passbook front page.
6. Submit within 90 days of the date of completion of the construction work, at the same office.
7. Collect the acknowledgement. The office makes the entry in its receipt register and assigns a unique seniority number used for all further references and serving as acknowledgement.
8. Execute the bond committing to 10 years of continued agricultural use, before the subsidy is released.

How to apply online through the e-District portal

1. Visit edistrict.py.gov.in, click Login at the top right, then Register a New Membership.
2. Fill in 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. Sign in with your username, password and captcha. The next screen lists Government of Puducherry schemes department-wise.
4. Open this scheme under the Department of Agriculture, complete every field marked with a red asterisk, and upload the mandatory documents, self-attested where required.
5. Tick the declaration and submit. Note the application number, which is also sent to your registered mobile number and email address.
6. Track the file at edistrict.py.gov.in/User/TrackApplication.aspx.

How do I check the status of my claim?

Offline applicants quote the unique seniority number and follow up with the State Ground Water Unit at Thattanchavady, or with the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal. Sanctions are released against a fixed annual allocation, so the seniority number indicates where your file sits in the queue. Online applicants use the application number on the e-District Track Application page. The Department publishes tentative beneficiary lists under the Scheduled Caste tubewell category for social audit before finalising them, so it is worth checking notices at the responsible office.

Why claims get rejected, and how to fix them

• Filed after the 90-day window from completion of construction.
• No community certificate, or a certificate issued by an authority below the rank of Deputy Tahsildar.
• Nativity or five-year residence not established, which is a condition unique to this version of the scheme.
• No Ground Water Authority permit, an unregistered rig, or private drilling without an NOC.
• Command area below 1.5 acres, unclear title, or ownership held for less than two years.
• Casing pipes without BIS certification or bought outside PASIC and the authorised dealer list.
• Bills not in original, or attested copies filed in a loan case without the bank certificate.
• Repeat claim inside the five-year bar.
• Bond not executed, which stalls release on an otherwise complete file.

Where to raise a grievance

The Department's published grievance officer for this scheme is the Hydrogeologist-II, State Ground Water Unit, Agricultural Complex, Thattanchavady, Puducherry 605 009, on 0413-2240908. The Deputy Director of Agriculture (SC) at the Agricultural Complex, Thattanchavady, handles Scheduled Caste component matters. The Director of Agriculture can be reached on 0413-2336977 or at diragri[dot]py[at]gov[dot]in, and the Additional Director (Agricultural Engineering) on 0413-2224625.

Karaikal applicants approach the Additional Director of Agriculture, Karaikal, on 04368-230679. The Department's citizen's charter, grievance redress note and list of responsibility centres are published on agri.py.gov.in. There is no fee for the application form or for registration under this scheme.