'Centre working on model bylaws to allow PACS diversify their biz, become viable'
The Centre is working on model bylaws to enable primary agriculture credit societies PACS diversify from their core business and allow them to undertake several activities and services to become viable, a top Cooperation Ministry official said on Wednesday.The computerisation of all functional 63,000 PACS, which will commence this fiscal with the Cabinet approving a budget of Rs 2,516 crore, will bring transparency in accounting and book keeping, thereby facilitating them to diversify to other activities smoothly, he said.
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The Centre is working on model bylaws to enable primary agriculture credit societies (PACS) to diversify from their core business and allow them to undertake several activities and services to become viable, a top Cooperation Ministry official said on Wednesday.
The computerization of all functional 63,000 PACS, which will commence this fiscal with the Cabinet approving a budget of Rs 2,516 crore, will bring transparency in accounting and bookkeeping, thereby facilitating them to diversify to other activities smoothly, he said. ''The existing bylaws do not allow PACS to diversify from their core business. The Union Cooperation Ministry is in the process of drafting model bylaws to enable them to offer several services and activities,'' the official said.
PACS will be allowed to offer 20-odd services. They will be allowed to work as Bank Mitras and common service centers (CSCs), provide cold storage and godown facilities, and set up PDS shops enabling them to work in the dairy, fishery, irrigation, and biogas sectors among others, he said. ''The draft 'model PACS bylaws' will be ready in a month and will seek comments from the state governments. The model bylaws will be advisory,'' he added. At present, the majority of PACS have not computerized their operation and still functioning manually resulting in inefficiency and trust deficit. PACS constitutes the lowest tier of the three-tier short-term cooperative credit in the country comprising 13 crore farmers as its members. At present, there are 63,000 PACS in the country and the Centre has a target to set up 3 lakh PACS by 2025.
Besides model bylaws for PACs, the government is working on a new cooperation policy, setting up a university, and developing a database of cooperatives.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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