In News
- The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) .
About
- The project proposes computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over a period of 5 years with a total budget outlay of Rs. 2516 crore with Government of India share of Rs. 1528 crore.
- Objectives
- Increasing efficiency of PACS, bringing transparency and accountability in their operations
- Facilitating PACS to diversify their business and undertake multiple activities/ services.
- Serving the purpose of financial inclusion and strengthening service delivery to farmers especially Small & Marginal Farmers (SMFs).
About PACS
- PACS constitute the lowest tier of the three-tier Short-term cooperative credit (STCC) in the country comprising approx.13 Cr. farmers as its members, which is crucial for the development of the rural economy.
- 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).
Source:PIB
