Central Sector Project for Computerization of PACS; new multipurpose cooperative PACS planned
Government expands PACS computerisation and plans new multipurpose cooperative societies across panchayats and villages
- The National Cooperative Database is being used by the Union government to track cooperative registration and strengthening across India.
- The Union government has approved a five-year expansion plan for PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives to reach panchayats and villages.
- The PACS computerisation model links functional PACS with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.
The Ministry of Cooperation has expanded the Central Sector Project for Computerization of PACS, a scheme that aims to bring local cooperative credit institutions onto a common digital platform. The same Union government reply also says that a new plan has been approved to establish multipurpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives across panchayats and villages over the next five years.
What happened now
According to the Union government, the PACS computerisation project was launched in 2022. The initial approval covered 63,000 functional PACS with a financial outlay of ₹2,516 crore. The outlay has now been increased to ₹2,925.39 crore, and coverage has been widened to 79,630 PACS.
UPSC can ask about the design of PACS computerisation, the role of NABARD, State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks, or the policy significance of linking local cooperatives to a common ERP-based national software. A mains question can examine whether cooperative digitalisation and new multipurpose cooperatives strengthen last-mile rural credit and livelihoods, or whether implementation capacity remains uneven across States.
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