Lok Sabha Question No. 233 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2025-07-22
Subject: Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies Expansion
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara, Smt. Shobhanaben Mahendrasinh Baraiya, Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh, Shri Chandan Chauhan, Shri Kripanath Mallah, Shri Dilip Saikia, Shri Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao, Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai, Shri Jagdambika Pal, Shri Narayan Tatu Rane, Shri Praveen Patel, Shri Kota Srinivasa Poojary, Shri Yogender Chandolia, Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava, Shri Rajkumar Chahar, Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey, Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab, Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato, Dr. K Sudhakar, Shri Damodar Agrawal, Shri Lumbaram Choudhary, Dr. Manna Lal Rawat, Shri Janardan Mishra, Shri Khagen Murmu, Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram, Shri Captain Brijesh Chowta, Smt. Aparajita Sarangi, Shri Dineshbhai Makwana

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 233 TO BE ANSWERED ON 22 nd  July, 2025

## Primary Agriculture Cooperative Credit Societies Expansion

## 233.    Shri Narayan Tatu Rane:

Shri Captain Brijesh Chowta:

Shri Vijay Kumar Dubey:

Shri Chandan Chauhan:

Shri Dineshbhai Makwana:

Shri Lumbaram Choudhary:

Dr. Hemant Vishnu Savara:

Shri Kota Srinivasa Poojary:

Shri Bidyut Baran Mahato:

Shri Parbhubhai Nagarbhai Vasava:

Shri Praveen Patel:

Dr. Manna Lal Rawat:

Shri Yogender Chandolia:

Shri Dilip Saikia:

Shri Pradeep Kumar Singh:

Dr. K Sudhakar:

Shri Kripanath Mallah:

Shri Janardan Mishra:

Shri Damodar Agrawal:

Shri Rajkumar Chahar:

Smt. Aparajita Sarangi:

Shri Jagdambika Pal:

Shri Bhartruhari Mahtab:

Shri Madhavaneni Raghunandan Rao:

Smt. Shobhanaben Mahendrasinh Baraiya:

Shri Vishnu Dayal Ram:

Shri Khagen Murmu:

Shri Bibhu Prasad Tarai:

Will the Minister of Cooperation (सहकाįरता मंũी) be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government proposes to ensure setting up of a Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) in every Panchayat by the year 2029 and is working towards the same, if so, the details thereof;
- (b) the various activities integrated with PACS so far and the manner in which the said integration has enhanced the financial sustainability of PACS and their relevance to rural communities;
- (c) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  provide  any  financial  or  technical  support  to ensure  successful  implementation  of  these  initiatives  at  the  ground  level  and  has devised plans thereof specially in State of Maharashtra and Palghar district;
- (d) whether the PACS  been integrated with Central schemes like Sahakar Se Samridhi/Digital Cooperatives/National Cooperative Database;
- (e) whether the  Government is developing standardized software/ERP system/AI based monitoring  mechanism  in  this  direction  so  that  the  operation  of  PACS  can  be professionalized, if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) whether the Government has any special plan to connect young entrepreneurs/women self-help  groups/FPOs  in  the  cooperative  sector  with  PACS  and  if  so,  the  details thereof?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकाįरता मंũी (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a):       Yes,  Sir.  The  Government  on  15.2.2023,  approved  the  Plan  for  strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots. The Plan entails  establishment  of  2  lakh  new  multipurpose  PACS  (M-PACS),  Dairy,  Fishery Cooperative Societies covering all the Panchayats/ villages in the country over a period of five  years,  through  convergence  of  various  existing  GOI  schemes,  including  Dairy Infrastructure  Development  Fund  (DIDF),  National  Programme  for  Dairy  Development (NPDD), PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), etc, with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State Governments.

(b) to (d):  In order to diversify the economic activities of PACS to make them multipurpose economic entities, Model Byelaws have been prepared by the Ministry, enabling PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities, including  dairy,  fishery,  setting  up  godowns, procurement of foodgrains, fertilizers, seeds, LPG/CNG/Petrol/Diesel distributorship, shortterm  &  long-term  credit,  custom  hiring  centers,  Fair  Price  Shops  (FPS),  community irrigation, Common Service Centre, etc.

In addition to the above, the Government of India has taken several other important initiatives as well, including the following:

-  Strengthening of PACS through Computerization :   In  order  to  strengthen PACS, project for Computerization of functional PACS was approved with a total financial outlay  of  ₹2,516  Crore  which  has  been  increased  to  ₹2,925.39  crores  by  the Government of India, which entails bringing all functional PACS in the Country onto a common ERP based national software, linking them with NABARD through StCBs and DCCBs. This initiative helps in improving the operational efficiency of PACS, ensuring speedy disbursal of loans, lowering of transaction costs, increasing transparency and increasing farmers' trustworthiness in PACS operations. So far, a total of 73,492 PACS from 31 States/ UTs have been sanctioned under the project. A total

of  59,920  PACS  have  been  onboarded  on  ERP  Software  and  hardware  has  been procured by 30 States/UTs.

-  Establishing New Multipurpose PACS/ Dairy/ Fishery Cooperatives in covering all the Panchayats: The Government has approved the plan to establish new multipurpose PACS/dairy/fisheries cooperatives, aiming to cover all panchayats and villages in the country in five years. This initiative is supported by NABARD, NDDB, NFDB and State/UT Governments.  As per National Cooperative Database, a total of 22,606 new PACS, Dairy and Fishery Cooperative Societies have been registered as on 30.06.2025 across the country since the approval of the plan on 15.2.2023.
-  World's  Largest  Decentralized  Grain  Storage  Plan  in  Cooperative  sector : Government has approved a plan to create warehouses, custom hiring centers, primary processing units and other agri-infrastructure for grain storage at PACS level, through convergence  of  various  existing  schemes  of  Government  of  India  (GOI),  including Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), Sub-Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Pradhan Mantri Formalisation of Micro Food Processing Enterprises (PMFME), etc. Under the pilot project of the plan, construction of godowns in 11 PACS of 11 States has been completed.
-  PACS as Common Service Centers (CSCs) to deliver more than 300 e-services such as banking, insurance, electricity bill payments, health services, legal services, etc. to rural citizens; etc. So far, 47,918 PACS have started functioning as CSC.
-  PACS  as  Pradhan  Mantri  Kisan  Samriddhi  Kendras  (PMKSK) providing fertilizers, pesticides and various other agri inputs to farmers under one roof. So far, 36,592 PACS have been upgraded into PMKSKs.
-  PACS  as  Pradhan  Mantri  Bhartiya  Janaushadhi  Kendras  (PMBJK) to  ensure availability of quality generic medicines to rural citizens at affordable prices. So far, 762 PACS have got Store Codes from PMBI and are ready to function as PMBJK.
-  PACS made eligible for Retail Petrol/ Diesel outlets : Government has allowed PACS to be included in the Combined Category 2 (CC2) for allotment of retail petrol/ diesel outlets.
-  PACS given permission to convert bulk consumer petrol pumps into retail outlets : The existing bulk consumer licensee PACS have been given a one-time option by Oil Marketing  Companies  to  convert  into  retail  outlets.  As  per  information  shared  by OMCs, 117 wholesale consumer pump licensee PACS from 5 States have given consent for conversion into Retail Outlets, out of which 59 PACS have been commissioned by the OMCs.
-  PACS  made  eligible  for  LPG  Distributorship  for  diversifying  its  activities : Government has now allowed PACS to apply for LPG Distributorships. This will give PACS an option to increase their economic activities and diversify their income stream.
-  PACS have been made eligible to carry out Operations & Maintenance (O&M) of piped water supply schemes in rural areas. As per information received from States/

UTs,  539  PACS  have  been  identified/  selected  by  8  States/  UTs  to  provide  O&M services at Panchayat/ Village level.

-  Convergence of PM-KUSUM at PACS level :  Farmers  associated  with  PACS  can adopt solar agricultural water pumps and install photovoltaic modules in their farms.
-  Convergence  of  PM  Surya  Ghar  -  Muft  Bijli  Yojana of  Ministry  of  New  & Renewable Energy at Cooperative Societies level.
-  Formation of new Farmer Producer Organizations (FPOs) by PACS : Against the additional target of 1,100 FPOs allocated to NCDC by Department of Agriculture & Farmers  Welfare,  GoI,  it  has  registered  1,117  FPOs  in  Cooperative  Sector  through PACS. This enables cooperative sector in general and PACS in particular, to generate alternative sources of revenues for their members, thus transforming themselves into viable, dynamic and financially sustainable economic entities.

The  initiatives  are  being  implemented  by  utilizing  the  approved  outlays  of  the  existing schemes of Government of India which are being converged at PACS level. Further, for efficient delivery of the services being provided by PACS across the country including in the Palghar district of the State of Maharashtra, specific trainings are also being provided to them by the agencies concerned.

(e):      The Centrally Sponsored Project for Computerization of PACS entails bringing all the functional PACS onto an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based common national software,  linking  them  with  NABARD  through  State  Cooperative  Banks  (StCBs)  and District  Central  Cooperative  Banks  (DCCBs),  which  aims  to  bring  transparency  and effectiveness in the working of PACS so that the operation of PACS can be professionalized.

(f):      The following schemes are being implemented by National Cooperative Development Corporation  (NCDC)  to  encourage  and  strengthen  young  entrepreneurs/women  self-help groups/FPOs in the cooperative sector:

-  Yuva  Sahakar: The  scheme  aims  at  enabling  Start-Ups  in  the  Cooperative  sector covering all types of activities. It also aims to encourage newly formed cooperative societies  with  new  and  /  or  innovative  ideas  and  provides  assistance  to  cooperative societies that have been operational for a minimum of three months.
-  Nandini Sahakar: The scheme aims to improve the socio-economic status of women and supports the entrepreneurial dynamism of women through women's cooperatives.
-  Swayamshakti  Sahakar  Yojna :  The  scheme  was  launched  to  provide  financial assistance to Agricultural Credit Cooperatives for onward lending of working capital loan or term loan to Women Self Help Groups (SHGs) and to facilitate affordable costeffective reliable financial services to the poor, women SHGs and to access adequate bank credit to undertake common/collective socio-economic activities and promotion of sustainable livelihood.

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