Lok Sabha Question No. 2968 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-10
Subject: Strengthening Cooperative Digital Governance in Odisha
Ministry: COOPERATION
Asked by: Shri Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2968 TO BE ANSWERED ON 10 th  MARCH, 2026

## Strengthening Cooperative Digital Governance in Odisha

## 2968. Shri Sukanta Kumar Panigrahi:

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

- (a) the status of computerisation of Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) offices in Odisha and the operationalisation of the National Cooperative Database (NCD) in the State, including total cooperative societies onboarded, district-wise;
- (b) whether measurable improvements have been observed in registration timelines, transparency, digital compliance and financial reporting of cooperative societies in aspirational districts, if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the  total  funds  allocated,  released  and  utilised  for  strengthening cooperative  digital infrastructure in Odisha; and
- (d) whether the Ministry proposes to further strengthen Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS),  dairy  and  tribal  cooperatives  in  Kandhamal  through AI-enabled  governance  and capacity building initiatives, if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

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

- (a) The integrated RCS digital portal has been launched by the Hon'ble Home and Cooperation Minister and gone live on 06.03.2026. The development of APIs for integration with the National Cooperative Database (NCD) is currently in progress. All the Cooperative Societies of the State have been onboarded on the NCD portal. The district-wise details are attached in Annexure-I .
- (b) The implementation of the project by the majority of the States/UTs is currently in progress. A few States/UTs have only recently completed the project; therefore, it is too early to assess the measurable improvements in the functioning of the RCS offices.

(c) The total funds allocated to the State of Odisha under the sub-project 'Computerization of the Offices of RCS of States/UTs' under the Centrally Sponsored Project 'Strengthening of Cooperatives through IT ( Government of India's share) are approximately ₹2.20 crore. Out of this, a total amount of approximately ₹1.49 crore has been released to the State so far. Under the project, the State has utilized approximately ₹0.61 crore for activities such as the development of software.

Under the Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) Computerization Project, the total funds allocated to the State of Odisha are approximately ₹36.14 crore. Out of this, a total amount of approximately ₹18.07 crore has been released to the State so far. The State has fully utilized the funds released under the project.

Odisha  is  currently  not  part  of  the  Agriculture  and  Rural  Development  Banks  (ARDB) Computerization Project.

(d) No such proposal is under consideration by the Ministry to strengthen Primary Agricultural Credit  Societies  (PACS),  dairy,  and  tribal  cooperatives  in  Kandhamal  through  AI-enabled governance. However, as per the information received from the State Government, an MoU has been signed with OKCL (Odisha Knowledge Corporation Ltd.)  for imparting basic computer literacy  and  an  AI  course  to  the  staff  of  2711  PACS/LAMPCS  (Large Area  Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies). The staff of all the 24 LAMPCS of Kandhamal are also covered in this programme.

Training/capacity  building  programs  for  cooperative  societies  are  conducted  by  the  National Council  for  Cooperative  Training  (NCCT),  which  is  an  autonomous  organisation  under  the Ministry  of  Cooperation.  NCCT  does  not  maintain  any  district-level  data  related  to  training imparted. However, it is to be informed that since the inception of the Ministry of Cooperation in 2021, the Institute of Cooperative Management (ICM), Bhubaneswar, an institute functioning under NCCT, has conducted 1049 capacity-building programmes and trained 58,773 participants across diverse cooperative sectors till 31 January 2026.

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Annexure-I

| S.No   | District       |   Total Societies as perNCD |
|--------|----------------|-----------------------------|
| 1      | ANUGUL         |                         219 |
| 2      | BALANGIR       |                         327 |
| 3      | BALESHWAR      |                         408 |
| 4      | BARGARH        |                         438 |
| 5      | BHADRAK        |                         350 |
| 6      | BOUDH          |                         103 |
| 7      | CUTTACK        |                         730 |
| 8      | DEOGARH        |                          56 |
| 9      | DHENKANAL      |                         208 |
| 10     | GAJAPATI       |                         142 |
| 11     | GANJAM         |                         616 |
| 12     | JAGATSINGHAPUR |                         560 |
| 13     | JAJAPUR        |                         256 |
| 14     | JHARSUGUDA     |                         107 |
| 15     | KALAHANDI      |                         257 |
| 16     | KANDHAMAL      |                         105 |
| 17     | KENDRAPARA     |                         366 |
| 18     | KENDUJHAR      |                         244 |
| 19     | KHORDHA        |                         409 |
| 20     | KORAPUT        |                         157 |
| 21     | MALKANGIRI     |                          82 |
| 22     | MAYURBHANJ     |                         275 |
| 23     | NABARANGPUR    |                         164 |
| 24     | NAYAGARH       |                         248 |
| 25     | NUAPADA        |                          98 |
| 26     | PURI           |                         756 |
| 27     | RAYAGADA       |                         120 |
| 28     | SAMBALPUR      |                         152 |
| 29     | SONEPUR        |                         208 |
| 30     | SUNDARGARH     |                         250 |
|        | Total          |                        8411 |

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