The Government aims to establish new multipurpose PACS/dairy/fisheries cooperatives to cover all panchayats and villages over the next 5 years.

About PACS

• PACS are the grass-root level institutions of the short-term co-operative credit structure and it acts as a last-mile link between borrowers and higher financing institutions such as Scheduled Commercial Banks and RBI/NABARD.
• Status: PACS sanctioned: 79,630, New PACS registered: 32,802, PACS digitised: 61,478
• Regulation:
  • Multi State PACS: Entry 44 of Union List of the Constitution and are centrally administered by Central Registrar of Cooperative Societies (CRCS) under provisions of Multi-State Co-operative Societies Act, 2002.
  • Single State PACS: Entry 32 of State List of the Constitution and are administered by the concerned State Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS) under respective State Cooperative Societies Act.

Potential & Significance of PACS

• Agriculture: Enhanced infrastructure and post-harvest support through the World’s Largest Decentralized Grain Storage Plan (which establishes godowns and custom hiring centres).
• Dairy Sector: Enhance milk procurement by 50%  over 5 years through registration of >21,000 new Dairy Cooperative Societies.
• Fisheries sector: Improve market linkages and value addition through converting 1,000 fisheries cooperative societies into Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs).