Govt keen on limiting food grains wastage
Process for registering 10,000 new PACS and dairy and fishery co-operative societies in 23 States and UTs is at various stages; Setting up warehouses, custom hiring centres, primary processing units and other agri-infra facilities to reduce the wastage of foodgrains
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- Computerization of 63,000 functional PACS at financial outlay of Rs2,516 cr
- Govt linking all functional PACS with Nabard via ERP software
- Trials started at 5,673 PACS in 26 States and UTs
- Lowering transport cost for farmers
New Delhi: As many as 31 States and Union Territories (UTs) have adopted the model bylaws for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). The Union Ministry of Co-operation had framed the model bylaws to improve the viability of PACS and diversify their business activities.
The model bylaws were circulated to all States and UTs in January 2023 for their adoption by PACS after making suitable changes as per respective State Cooperative Acts. As per the bylaws, the process for registering about 10,000 new PACS and dairy and fishery cooperative societies in 23 States and UTs is at various stages, official sources told Bizz Buzz.
The bylaws will enable PACS to diversify their business activities by undertaking more than 25 business activities, including dairy, fishery, floriculture, setting up go-downs, procurement of foodgrains, fertilizers, seeds, LPG, CNG, petrol, diesel distributorship, common service centers, fair price shops, business correspondent activities, etc.
In order to strengthen PACS, the central government approved a project for the computerization of 63,000 functional PACS with a total financial outlay of Rs2,516 crore. The project is aimed at bringing all functional PACS in the country onto common ERP-based national software, linking them with Nabard. Software is ready, and trials have already started in 5,673 PACS in 26 states and UTs, the sources said.
The government has also cleared a plan to create warehouses, custom hiring centres, primary processing units and other agri-infra facilities for grain storage at the PACS level by converging various government schemes. This will reduce the wastage of foodgrains, lower the transportation cost, enable farmers to realize better prices for their produce, and meet various other agricultural needs at the PACS level itself, the sources added.
Twenty two States and UTs and national-level cooperative federations such as the National Cooperative Consumers Federation and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd or NAFED have identified 1,711 PACS for creation of storage capacity under a pilot project.
