Primary Agricultural Credit Societies : Govt New Decision

News: The Government has taken five new decisions to increase the income of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), as well as increase the employment opportunities in rural areas.

Government aims to achieve overall prosperity in the country through the mantra of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi”.

It was proposed to strengthen Cooperatives by bringing transparency, modernization, and creating competitiveness.

PACS which are not functioning as fertilizer retailers will be identified and they will be encouraged to function as retailers on the basis of feasibility in a phased manner.

PACS which are not currently functioning as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras (PMKSK) will be brought under the ambit of PMKSK.

The Prime Minister inaugurated 600 PMKSK in 2022 under the Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilisers.

PMKSK will cater to a wide variety of needs of the farmers and provide agri-inputs, testing facilities for soil, seeds, and fertilisers.

PACS will be connected with the marketing of organic Fertilizers, especially Fermented Organic Manure (FoM) / Liquid Fermented Organic Manure (LFOM) / Phosphate Enriched Organic Manure (PROM).

Under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme of Department of Fertilizers, fertilizer companies will act as an aggregator for small bio-organic producers to market the end product, in this supply and marketing chain of bio-organic fertilizers PACS will also be included as wholesalers/retailers.

PACS can also be employed as Drone entrepreneurs for spraying fertilizers and pesticides. Drones can also be used for survey of property.

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies:

PACS are village level cooperative credit societies that serve as the last link in a three-tier cooperative credit structure headed by the State Cooperative Banks (SCB) at the state level.

Credit from the SCBs is transferred to the District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs), which operate at the district level.

The DCCBs work with PACS, which deal directly with farmers.

PACSs provide short-term, and medium-term agricultural loans to the farmers for the various agricultural and farming activities.

The first PACS was formed in 1904.