New Single National Software Network Set to Enhance Efficiency Across India’s Cooperative Sector

Government of India is implementing the Project for Computerization of functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 Crore, 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). The National Level Common Software for the project has been developed by NABARD and 25,904 PACS have been onboarded on ERP software in 27 States/ UTs as on 21.07.2024.

In order to increase the viability of PACS and diversify their business activities to make them vibrant economic entities at Panchayat level, Model Byelaws for PACS have been prepared by the Government after consultation with all the stakeholders and circulated to all the States/ UTs on 5th January, 2023 for their adoption by PACS after making suitable changes as per respective State Cooperative Acts. These will enable PACS to diversify their business activities by undertaking more than 25 business activities, including dairy, fishery, floriculture, setting up godowns, procurement of foodgrains, fertilizers, seeds, LPG/CNG/Petrol/Diesel distributorship, short-term & long-term credit, custom hiring centers, common service centers, Fair Price Shops (FPS), community irrigation, Business Correspondent activities, etc. By adopting Model Byelaws, PACS would be able to serve as multi-service centers, catering to varied needs of member farmers in rural areas. They will help in improving the operational efficiency, transparency and accountability of PACS; providing agricultural credit and various non-credit services to the farmer members thus giving them additional sources of income.

Computerization of PACS project aims to provide a comprehensive ERP solution for entailing more than 25 economic activities prescribed under the Model Bye-Laws 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.

So far, proposals for computerization of 67,009 PACS from 30 States/ UTs have been sanctioned, for which Rs. 654.23 Cr. has been released as GoI share to the States/UTs concerned. Details of number of PACS sanctioned and GoI share released till date to States/UTs are enclosed as Annexure.

The ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based common national software brings about efficiency in PACS performance through Common Accounting System (CAS) and Management Information System (MIS). Further, governance and transparency in PACS also improves, leading to speedy disbursal of loans, lowering of transaction cost, reduction in imbalances in payments, seamless accounting with DCCBs and StCBs. It will enhance trustworthiness in the working of PACS among farmers, thus contributing towards realizing the vision of “Sahakar se Samridhi”.

There are more than 13 Crore farmer members associated with about 1.05 lakh PACS. This project enhances farmers access to short-term, medium-term and long-term credit facilities. In addition, computerization of PACS also enables farmers to obtain these services at PACS level itself, through inclusion of different modules for various economic activities, as mentioned under Model Bye-Laws for PACS. It also helps in diversification of PACS economic activities, thus enabling the farmer members to get additional & sustainable sources of income.

 

        ANNEXURE
  Computerization of PACS Project    
S. No. States No. of PACS   GoI Share released  
Sanctioned   (in rupees)  
       
1 Andhra Pradesh 2,037   186,747,271  
2 Arunachal Pradesh 14   2,700,000  
3 Assam 583   88,625,000  
4 Bihar 4,495   329,500,000  
5 Chhattisgarh 2,028   148,600,000  
6 Goa 58   4,450,000  
7 Haryana 710   72,916,000  
8 Himachal Pradesh 870   168,800,000  
9 Jharkhand 1,500   109,900,000  
10 Karnataka 5,491   556,400,000  
11 Madhya Pradesh 4,534   586,525,000  
12 Maharashtra 12,000   1,215,950,000  
13 Manipur 232   25,500,000  
14 Meghalaya 112   12,300,000  
15 Mizoram 25   2,700,000  
16 Nagaland 231   28,168,555  
17 Punjab 3,482   255,200,000  
18 Rajasthan 6,781   670,786,131  
19 Sikkim 107   20,800,000  
20 Tamil Nadu 4,532   456,820,000  
21 Tripura 268   55,915,354  
22 Uttar Pradesh 5,686   535,841,650  
23 West Bengal 4,167   305,400,000  
24 Uttarakhand 670   36,874,057  
25 Gujarat 5,754   583,000,000  
26 Jammu & Kashmir 537   67,678,040  
27 Puducherry 45   6,075,000  
28 Andaman & Nicobar 46   6,881,462  
29 Ladakh 10   1,200,000  
30 DNH & DD 4    
  Total 67,009   6,542,253,520  

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