Amaravati, Sep 23 (IANS): Andhra Pradesh government will drill borewells for needy, small and marginal farmers under YSR Jala Kala programme through Navaratnalu (precious nine) scheme.

"Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy has instructed to drill free borewells for needy, small and marginal farmers through YSR Jala Kala programme under Navaratnalu," said Information and Public Relations (I & PR) Commissioner Thumma Vijay Kumar Reddy.

He said the borewell drilling scheme is in line with Jagan Mohan Reddy's promise he made during his hundreds of kilometres long padayatra.

"During his padayatra, after getting to know the farmer's problems, he promised free borewells to small and marginal needy farmers in order to provide support to them," he said.

The I & PR commissioner advised eligible farmers to apply for this programme either online or through the village secretariats, which opens from September 28.

"All applications shall be scrutinized as per eligibility criteria and after hydrogeological and geophysical survey, based on the feasibility, drilling work shall be started," Vijay Kumar Reddy said.

The state government has also developed a software application to monitor and implement the programme, which will scrutinize from the time of application till payments are done to contractors.

Applicants will receive updates via text messages at every stage of the scheme.

"Chief Minister shall launch the programme online from secretariat and eligible small and marginal farmers can apply for this programme from September 28 onwards," he added.