Lok Sabha Question No. 2435 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2024-08-06
Subject: Monitoring Mechanism for PACS
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Shri Manish Jaiswal, Shri Janardan Mishra

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2435 TO BE ANSWERED ON 06/08/2024

## Monitoring Mechanism for PACS

## 2435.   SHRI MANISH JAISWAL: SHRI JANARDAN MISHRA:

Will the Minister of COOPERATION ( सहकारिता मंत्री) be pleased to state:

(a) the amount of funds allocated by the Government and various stakeholders under the Project of Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS);

(b) the system prepared for the implementation of the said project by the Government;

(c)  the  kind  of  monitoring  mechanism  put  in  place  by  the  Government  for  the  PACS computerization project;

(d) the details of the roles and responsibilities of the centre and States in the same;

- (e) the details of the role of NABARD in this regard; and

(f) the details of benefits likely to be availed by the farmers from the same?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION सहकारिता मंत्री (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a):  In  order  to  strengthen  Primary  Agricultural  Credit  Societies  (PACS),  the  project  for Computerization of 63,000 functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 Crore has been approved by the Government of India, which 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).  Out  of  the  total  budget  of  Rs.  2,516  crore  for  the  project,  the  shares  of Government of India (GoI), State Governments and NABARD are Rs. 1528 crore, Rs. 736 crore and Rs. 252 crore, respectively.

(b) to (e):  NABARD is implementing the project and act as project manager for the PACS Computerisation Project at Central level under the guidance and directions of National Level Monitoring and Implementation Committee and Ministry of Cooperation. National and State level  Implementation  and  Monitoring  Committees  have  been  constituted  for  real-time monitoring and effective feed-back about the implementation of the scheme.

Further, for implementation and monitoring of the project, a core team at NABARD, Head Office with the team members constituted from its officers has been established. This core team is assisted by Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) hired by NABARD for the project. NABARD has  hired  staff/professional/  technical  experts  for  the  PMU  on  contractual  basis.  Similarly, NABARD has also set up State PMUs to assist States in implementation and monitoring of the project at State level, which will also function as the State level support centers. These State PMUs  are  also  manned  by  NABARD  officials  and  contractual  staff/  experts.    Further, NABARD is also acting as a custodian on behalf of Government of India of the common software  and  all  the  financial  and  personal  data  generated/captured  on  the  software.  After completion of the project, NABARD will manage the system in coordination with the State Governments  and  will  be  responsible  for  its  sustainability. The  National  Level  Common Software for the project has been developed by NABARD. The roles and responsibilities of the various stakeholders of the project are given below:

- i. Ministry  of  Cooperation-  Oversees  the  project's  implementation  and  monitoring through the National Level Monitoring and Implementation Committee (NLMIC).
- ii. State  Governments  -  Manages  State-level  implementation  through  State  and District Level Implementation and Monitoring Committees (SLIMC and DLIMC), ensuring data readiness, hardware procurement, and coordination with the NLMIC.
- iii. iii. NABARD -Acts as the project manager at the central level, supported by a core team and a Project Monitoring Unit.
- iv. State Cooperative Banks - establish dedicated computerization cells and coordinate between DLIMC and SLIMC.
- v. District Central Cooperative Banks - formation of computerisation cells, facilitate Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) readiness, and ensure data transfer to the National Data Repository.
- vi. Primary  Agricultural  Credit  Societies  (PACS)  -  to  verify  eligibility,  ensure infrastructure readiness, and maintain data integrity.
- vii. The National Level PACS Software Vendor (NLPSV) - provides for and customise the software,
- viii. System Integrators (SI) - handles State-wise software installation, data digitisation, migration, integration, and training.

(f):  Implementation  of  Common  Accounting  System  (CAS)  and  Management  Information System (MIS) at PACS level under this project would improve governance and transparency in PACS, thus leading to speedy disbursal of loans, lowering of transaction cost, reduction in imbalances in payments, seamless accounting with DCCBs and StCBs and will also increase efficiency.  It  will  enhance  trustworthiness  in  the  working  of  PACS  among  farmers,  thus contributing towards realizing the vision of 'Sahakar se Samridhi'.

Computerization of PACS project provides a comprehensive ERP solution for all the economic activities prescribed under the Model Byelaws for PACS covering various modules such as financial  services  for  short-,  medium-  &  long-term  loans,  procurement  operations,  Public Distribution Shops  (PDS)  operations, business planning, warehousing,  merchandising, borrowings, asset management, human resource management, etc.

The project aims at improving farmers access to short-term, medium-term and long-term credit. In  addition,  through  inclusion  of  different  modules  for  various  economic  activities,  as mentioned under Model Byelaws for PACS, computerization will also enable farmers to obtain these  services  at  PACS  level  itself.  It  will  also  help  in  diversification  of  PACS  economic activities, thus enabling the farmer members to get additional & sustainable sources of income.