What happened
The Ministry of Cooperation said that Odisha has been brought under the Central Sector project for computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). The project is meant to place functional PACS on a common Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)-based national software and connect them with the banking system through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.
According to the Ministry, Odisha joined the project in 2025. The Ministry said that 4,240 PACS have been sanctioned in Odisha and that financial assistance of ₹25.07 crore has been provided to the State for the project.
Background and earlier position
The Centre launched the PACS computerisation project in 2022 to strengthen cooperative societies through digitisation, transparency, and better service delivery. The project was initially approved for 63,000 PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 crore.
The Ministry said that the project has since been expanded to cover 79,630 PACS with a revised outlay of ₹2,925.39 crore. The National Cooperative Database is being used to identify gaps in the geographical spread of cooperatives and to support the formation of new multipurpose PACS, dairy cooperatives, and fisheries cooperatives.
Related current affairs
- Central Sector Project for Computerization of PACS; new multipurpose cooperative PACS planned
- Cooperative societies and PACS computerisation in Maharashtra (NCD updates; Central Sector project expansion)
- National Cooperative Database (NCD): Coverage of cooperatives and status of PACS/M-PACS, computerization and ERP onboarded
- Central Assistance for Computerisation of PACS and Strengthening Cooperative Institutions in Karnataka
- Digital technology push in cooperative sector under “Sahkar Se Samriddhi”
- Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in Punjab under Central Sponsored Project