Vinod Bhat
In a major step to strengthen the cooperative sector of the country, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate and lay the foundation stone of multiple key initiatives for the Cooperative sector on 24th February, 2024 at 10:30 AM at Bharat Mandapam, New Delhi.
Prime Minister will inaugurate the pilot project of ‘World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector’, which is being done in 11 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) of 11 States.
Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for additional 500 PACS across the country for construction of godowns & other agri infrastructure under this initiative. This initiative aims to seamlessly integrate PACS godowns with the food grain supply chain, fortifying food security and fostering economic development in the country with a collaborative effort supported by NABARD and spearheaded by the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). This initiative is being implemented through convergence of various existing schemes like the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agriculture Marketing Infrastructure (AMI), etc. to enable PACS participating in the project to avail subsidies and interest subvention benefits for undertaking infrastructure development.
Prime Minister will inaugurate project for computerization in 18,000 PACS across the country, aligning with the government’s vision of “Sahakar se Samridhi” aimed at rejuvenating the cooperative sector and empowering small and marginal farmers.
The monumental project has been approved with a financial outlay of more than Rs 2,500 crore. This initiative involves transitioning all functional PACS onto a unified Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) based national software, ensuring seamless integration and connectivity. By linking these PACS with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks, the project aims to enhance the operation efficiency & governance of PACS, thus benefiting crores of small & marginal farmers. NABARD has developed the National Level Common Software for this project, tailored to meet the diverse needs of PACS across the country. Onboarding of 18,000 PACS on ERP software has been completed, marking a significant milestone in the project’s implementation.
