Cabinet approves computerisation of major agricultural credit score societies

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday permitted computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with the goal of accelerating effectivity of PACS, bringing transparency and accountability of their operations.

This undertaking proposes computerization of about 63,000 useful PACS over a interval of 5 years with a complete price range outlay of Rs 2,516 crore with the central authorities’s share of Rs 1,528 crore.

Sources within the Ministry of Cooperation (MoC) stated the federal government was additionally engaged on mannequin bylaws for these societies which states can be anticipated to emulate even because it deliberate to rejuvenate defunct societies and had saved a goal of establishing 3 lakh PACS throughout the nation.

The Primary Agricultural Cooperative credit score societies (PACS) represent the bottom tier of the three-tier short-term cooperative credit score (STCC) in India comprising of almost 13 crore crore farmers as its members.

“PACS account for 41 % (3.01 Cr. farmers) of the KCC loans given by all entities in the country and 95 % of these KCC loans (2.95 Cr. farmers) through PACS are to the small and marginal farmers. The other two tiers viz. State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) have already been automated by the NABARD and brought on Common Banking Software (CBS),” the Cabinet stated in a press release.

“However, majority of PACS have so far been not computerized and still functioning manually resulting in inefficiency and trust deficit. In some of the states, standalone and partial computerization of PACS has been done. There is no uniformity in the software being used by them and they are not interconnected with the DCCBs and StCBs. Under the able guidance of Shri Amit Shah, Hon’ble Minister of Home and Cooperation, it has been proposed to computerize all the PACS throughout the Country and bring them on a common platform at National level and have a Common Accounting System (CAS) for their day to day business,” it added.

“PACS will become nodal service delivery point for interest subvention scheme (ISS), PM Fasal Beema Yojana, Direct Benefit Transfer and provision of inputs like fertilisers, seeds etc. It will ensure speedy disposal of loans, lower transition cost, faster audit and reduction in imbalances in payments and accounting with SCBs and DCBs,” the Ministry of Cooperation assertion stated.

The undertaking contains of growth of a cloud primarily based frequent software program with cyber safety and knowledge storage, offering {hardware} help to the PACS, digitization of current data together with upkeep help and coaching.

The union Cabinet was additionally apprised of a Strategic Partnership Agreement signed between the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE), Government of India and the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA). The settlement was signed in January 2022.

“The areas of cooperation as envisaged in the Strategic Partnership Agreement will support India in achieving its ambitious target of 500 GW of installed non-fossil fuel electricity capacity by 2030. This in-turn will promote Atmanirbhar Bharat,” the assertion stated.

It was additionally apprised of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Trade and Industry of the Government of the Republic of Singapore on Cooperation within the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation. The MoU was signed in February 2022.