The enactment of the Cooperative Credit Societies Act in 1904 had kick started
the cooperative movement in the country and eventually led to the establishment
of the Cooperative Credit Structure in India, which was one of the first sources
of institutional credit to farmers and weaker sections of the society.
Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) are grassroots-level institutions,
and their membership encompasses individual farmers, artisans, and members of
other weaker sections of the society as shareholders. They form the lowest tier
of the federated short-term cooperative credit structure with District
Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) and/or State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) in their upper
tiers. Despite the rich legacy, rural cooperatives have largely not adopted
technology in tune with the evolving times. The operations of the upper two
tiers viz. StCBs and DCCBs were digitized and brought on Core Banking Solution
(CBS) with support from NABARD in the early years of the previous decade.
However, the majority of PACS are not computerized and still carry manual
entries in the books of accounts resulting in inefficiency and trust deficit.
On 29 June 2022, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs of the Government of
India (GoI) approved a Centrally Sponsored Scheme for Computerization of PACS
with the objective of increasing efficiency, bringing transparency and
accountability in their operations, facilitating diversification of their
business and undertake multiple activities/ services.
This project proposes computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over a
period of 5 years with a total budget outlay of ₹ 2,516 crore with a
Government of India share of ₹ 1,528 crore. The shares of State Governments
and NABARD in the cost of implementation of the project are ₹ 736 crore and
₹ 252 crore, respectively. Subsequently, 4000 additional PACS have been
sanctioned by MoC, GOI for computerisation under CSPCP.
NABARD is implementing the project, on behalf of the Ministry of Cooperation,
which is an effort towards providing requisite computer hardware and
peripherals together with Enterprise Resources Planning (ERP) based common
software to enable PACS to capture records of all credit and non-credit
operations digitally and seamlessly in an efficient and transparent manner.
The project comprises of development of cloud-based common software with
cyber security, uploading and building a National Level Data Repository
(NLDR), training, and other support services. This software will be in
vernacular language having the flexibility of customisation as per the needs
and requirements of the States.
With the coverage of PACS, all three tiers of the cooperative structure will
be digitalized. This initiative shall bring the desired transparency in the
operations of PACS and help building the confidence of customers in the
system. This will also pave the way for seamless integration of PACS with
the CBS of DCCBs and StCB.
Computerization will facilitate the realization of PACS’ true potential by
transforming them into Multi-Service Centres (MSCs) to offer an array of
products and services, covering the entire gamut of rural livelihood
activities.
PM launch of CSPCP: 18,000 digitised PACS were formally
inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on 24 February 2024 at Bharat
Mandapam, New Delhi, in the presence of Hon’ble Ministers of Cooperation &
Agriculture and Commerce & Industry. NABARD facilitated participation of
3000 PACS personnel in the inaugural event.
Roadmap for 2024-25:Computerisation of all the 67000 PACS is
envisaged to be completed by August 2024.
Launch of ARDB Computerisation Project by Hon’ble Minister of Home &
Co-operation
The Hon’ble Minister of Home & Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah launched the
project for Computerisation of ARDBs on 30th January 2024 in a National
Conference and Workshop organised on “Computerisation of Offices of
Registrars of Cooperatives of all the states/UTs and Agriculture & Rural
Development Banks” at New Delhi. NABARD is also the implementing agency for
the computerisation of 1851 units of ARDBs of 11 States and 02 UTs. The
Hon’ble Minister appreciated the overall efforts taken by NABARD in carrying
forward the initiatives of the Ministry of Cooperation. Further, NABARD also
conducted a special technical session for RCS, DRCS and ARDB representatives
for briefing them about the process of Computerisation of ARDBs, the
integration with the ‘National Unified Software’, its workflow and overall
benefits. As on 22 March 2024, sanction Letter has been issued to 08 States
by MoC, GoI for the computerisation of 899 units.
Roadmap for 2024-25: It is envisaged to complete the
Computerisation of all 1851 units of ARDBs by March 2025.