Current Affairs

Expansion and coverage of PACSs across panchayats

Expansion and coverage of PACSs across panchayats

As per the National Cooperative Database (NCD), out of a total of 2,69,230 Gram Panchayats (GPs), 2,51,872 are covered by Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across the country, as on 30.06.2025.

As per the National Cooperative Database (NCD), the number of uncovered Gram Panchayats (GPs) is 17,358 for PACS, 1,84,387 for Dairy Cooperative Societies, and 2,39,710 for Fishery Cooperative Societies, as on 30.06.2025.

As per the National Cooperative Database (NCD), the State-wise details of the number of PACS established since 01.01.2021 is attached as Annexure-I.

The Government on 15.02.2023, has approved the Plan for strengthening cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots through establishment of 2 lakh multipurpose PACS, Dairy and Fishery cooperative societies covering all the Panchayats/ villages in the country, through convergence of various existing GOI schemes, including National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), etc. with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and State/UT Governments.

To ensure the timely and equitable rollout of new multipurpose PACS, Dairy, and Fishery Cooperative Societies across all areas, including underserved areas in the country including Northern and Eastern India, Ministry of Cooperation in coordination with NABARD, NDDB and NFDB has launched a Standard Operating Procedure (Margdarshika) on 19.9.2024, indicating the targets and timelines for stakeholders concerned. As per Margdarshika, identification of uncovered/ under-served Gram Panchayats/ villages is to be undertaken by stakeholders concerned in all the States including Northern and Eastern India.

In order to ensure smooth execution of this initiative, Ministry of Cooperation has adopted the following multilayered approach to monitor its implementation at the grassroots level, including the following:

*****

Annexure-I

State-wise no. of PACS established since 01.01.2021

S.No

State Name

Number of PACS

1

ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS

1

2

ANDHRA PRADESH

2

3

ARUNACHAL PRADESH

127

4

ASSAM

254

5

BIHAR

53

6

CHANDIGARH

0

7

CHHATTISGARH

8

8

DELHI

0

9

GOA

26

10

GUJARAT

641

11

HARYANA

46

12

HIMACHAL PRADESH

112

13

JAMMU AND KASHMIR

166

14

JHARKHAND

68

15

KARNATAKA

360

16

KERALA

3

17

LADAKH

3

18

LAKSHADWEEP

0

19

MADHYA PRADESH

250

20

MAHARASHTRA

234

21

MANIPUR

72

22

MEGHALAYA

276

23

MIZORAM

47

24

NAGALAND

67

25

ODISHA

1540

26

PUDUCHERRY

4

27

PUNJAB

9

28

RAJASTHAN

1968

29

SIKKIM

25

30

TAMIL NADU

38

31

TELANGANA

9

32

THE DADRA AND NAGAR HAVELI AND DAMAN

AND DIU

 

5

33

TRIPURA

202

34

UTTAR PRADESH

552

35

UTTARAKHAND

550

36

WEST BENGAL

50

 

Total

7768

Source: NCD portal as of 30.06.2025

This was stated by the Minister of Cooperation, Shri Amit Shah in a written reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha.

****

    1. Inter-Ministerial Committees (IMC) with Hon’ble Cooperation Minister as chairman and Hon’ble Ministers and Secretaries of GoI Ministries/ Departments concerned as members, has been constituted.
    2. National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) has been constituted under the chairmanship of Secretary, Ministry of Cooperation, GoI and Secretaries of concerned Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, and other stakeholders concerned as members, to steer the overall implementation of the initiative.
    3. State Cooperative Development Committee (SCDC) has been constituted at the State level under the chairmanship of the Chief Secretary and District Cooperative Development Committee (DCDC) has been constituted at the district level under the chairmanship of the District Collectors, to ensure effective implementation and monitoring of the initiative at district level.
    4. Further, Joint Working Committees (JWC) at the district level have also been formed by States/ UTs to ensure timely execution of the plan at the grassroots level.