New Delhi [India]: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah inaugurated 10,000 newly established multipurpose Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS), dairy, and fisheries cooperative societies on Wednesday.
Highlighting the critical role of cooperatives in rural development, Shah stressed the need for a cooperative presence in every panchayat. He explained that these PACS are designed to enhance the three-tier cooperative structure by offering diverse services beyond traditional banking and credit functions.
“Co-operatives should work in some form or the other in every panchayat, and if anyone can give the maximum strength to the three-tier co-operative structure of our country, it can be our primary co-operative societies. Therefore, the first decision we took was that 2 lakh PACs will be formed,” Amit Shah said at the National Conference of Cooperatives.
Shah elaborated on how the government has expanded the scope of PACS by linking them to multiple services, including storage, manure distribution, gas supply, fertilizer distribution, and water services. “We made PACS multi-dimensional, linked them with storage, linked them with distribution of manure, gas, fertilizer, and water. These became community service centers. Railway and airline bookings can also be done from the village itself, and we have linked many facilities with PACS,” he added.
To address challenges with non-functional PACS, Shah announced the introduction of a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for liquidating defunct societies. “We know that if a PAC existed in a village, another cannot be formed. Through this SOP, new PACS will be opened in 15,000 villages,” he explained.
As part of the event, Shah distributed registration certificates, RuPay Kisan Credit Cards (KCC), and micro ATMs to the newly formed cooperative societies. These financial tools aim to boost financial inclusion, provide credit access in panchayats, and promote rural economic growth.
The newly established multipurpose PACS include credit societies, dairy cooperatives, and fisheries cooperatives, fostering the expansion of cooperative institutions in rural areas. To ensure economic viability, new model bye-laws have been introduced, broadening the scope of PACS activities.
The Ministry of Cooperation emphasized that this initiative aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sehkar Se Samriddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation). Amit Shah has set an ambitious goal to establish a cooperative institution in every panchayat within the next five years.
To support this objective, a detailed guide titled ‘Margdarshika’ for the formation of Multipurpose PACS (M-PACS) was issued in September 2024. This guide will ensure the effective establishment and operation of the planned two lakh M-PACS across the country.