PACS digitization to complete by Jan 2025

The government will complete the digitization process of all Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) by the end of this year or January 2025. Speaking at a stakeholder consultation in New Delhi, Cooperation Secretary Ashish Kumar Bhutani said that the focus is on creating 2 lakh new multipurpose PACS with the vision to cover more uncovered and under-covered areas of the country.

Over 200 stakeholders from all across the country, including chairpersons and MDs of various national federations, including the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard), were present at the consultation, an official press release said.

The Ministry of Cooperation envisages to set up viable cooperatives in every panchayat with the objective to develop 2 lakh new PACS as dairy and fishery cooperatives within the next five years.

Bhutani said that his Ministry is geared up to procure maize at the minimum support price (MSP) as promised by Cooperation Minister Amit Shah. He urged all maize farmers to register themselves on the farmers’ portal for procurement by the National Cooperative Consumer Federation (NCCF) and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (NAFED) under the Ethanol Blending Programme (EBP). The Secretary added that this will be beneficial for both farmers and the EBP.

Shah recently announced the revised targets of 20 per cent ethanol blending in petroleum and diesel, and curtailed its earlier timeline for achieving it from 2030 to 2025-26.

In order to make PACS into viable business entities, model bye-laws were framed to make them work as multipurpose entities undertaking economic activities in various fields ranging from agriculture and allied activities to distribution of petroleum products, fertilizers and seeds.

The consultation concluded with a consensus on the need for continued collaboration among stakeholders to ensure the successful implementation of the discussed strategies. There was a strong commitment to empowering PACS, enhancing their capabilities, and supporting them in becoming self-sufficient entities that can significantly contribute to agricultural and economic development, the release said.