-
ALSO READ
From Sageone to Anvil Wealth, most PMS schemes beat Nifty in April
Rs 3-trillion new Discoms Reform Scheme: Why it might work this time?
HCL Tech, Munich Re in pact to digitalise workplace services in 40 nations
With 300 mn Indians in its fold, cooperative sector awaits big-bang reforms
Auto PLI scheme focuses on EVs; Tata Motors, Bajaj Auto to gain: Analysts
-
The Union Cooperation Ministry is working on a new central scheme to modernise and digitalise over 97,000 primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACs) spread across the country, with a budget outlay of around Rs 2,000-3000 crore over the next five years.
Primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACs) -- commonly known as agri-cooperative credit societies -- are village-level lending institutions based on cooperative principles. They provide short and medium term loans to rural people to meet their financial requirements.
There are about 97,961 PACs across the country, out of which viable ones are about 65,000.
"We are working on a central scheme to computeralise PACs. The aim is to ensure seamless connectivity of panchayat level PACs till headquarters," a senior Cooperation Ministry official told PTI.
After digitalisation of PACs, banking procedures will get smooth and will benefit in auditing. Besides, it will ensure the benefit of farm loans reaches the last mile because in a few states agri-credit is still disbursed through PACs, he said.
Stating that it would be a "futuristic scheme", the official said the computerisation will also enable PACs to create new vocations like setting up of godowns.
Since PACs are under the ambit of state government, the scheme envisaged will be on a 60:40 basis for five years, he said and added, total budget is expected to be Rs 2,000-3,000 crore.
Back in 2017, the government had moved a proposal to computerise PACs with a budget outlay of Rs 1950 crore. However, it could not get the cabinet clearance.
Earlier when the Cooperation Department was part of the Union Agriculture Ministry, only one scheme, the Integrated Scheme of Agriculture Cooperation (ISAC) -- under which subsidy is being given to PACs for upgrading their capital infrastructure -- was being implemented.
A new Ministry of Cooperation was formed in July this year to strengthen the cooperative movement. It is working on a new cooperative policy and some central schemes.
The official said that the Department of Personnel and Training (DOP) has already created and sanctioned 168 posts for the new ministry.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dear Reader,
Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance.
We, however, have a request.
As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.
Support quality journalism and subscribe to Business Standard.
Digital Editor
RECOMMENDED FOR YOU