Govt to give Rs 2,000cr to computerise PACS: Agri Min official

The government will provide Rs 2,000 crore to computerise primary agricultural credit society (PACS) to ensure cooperatives at grass-root levels are benefited through digital technology, a senior agriculture ministry official Ashish Bhutani said today.
The technology brings in transparency, and leads to employment generation. Therefore, adopting digital technology is the only way through which the cooperatives can maintain their relevance, he said in a statement.
"(The) Government will give Rs 2,000 crore to PACS for their computerisation so that the cooperatives at grass-root levels are benefited through digital technology," Bhutani, Joint Secretary (Cooperation) in the agriculture ministry, said at an event organised by National Cooperative Union of India (NCUI).

Many cooperative organisations are supporting their beneficiaries through various mobile applications, which is indeed a good step, he said.
Though the cooperative banks primarily cater to the poor and down-trodden sections of the society, their transactions are very less as compared to commercial banks, he noted.
Emphasising on the need to take advantage of digital platform, National Bank For Agriculture And Rural Development General Manager at Delhi office Rajiv Siwach said: "PACS have to evolve business model so that they can deliver many services".
Cooperative banks should have ATMs so that they attract customers. They should also need to find solution to ensure their share in credit remains high, he said.

There are more than 93 lakh PACS in the country. These are the smallest cooperative credit institutions working at gram panchayat and village level.