The Rural Development (Panchayat) Department, Government of Tripura, in collaboration with the Bharat Initiative Foundation, organized a two-day Panchayat Raj Capacity Building Programme on 1-2 September 2025 in Agartala, Tripura.
The event, held at the State Panchayat Resource Center, was attended by over 600 Panchayat representatives, rural development practitioners, and officials from the Rural Development Department.
The programme was inaugurated by Chief Minister Prof (Dr) Manik Saha, in the presence of the Rural Development Minister. Ritesh Dey, Executive Director of NCUI, participated and led a key session on “Strengthening Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) for Local Economic Impact” on 1st September.
The focus was on the Government of India’s vision to promote the cooperative sector as a tool for rural empowerment, aligned with the Prime Minister’s call “Sahakar Se Samriddhi” and the goal of Vikshit Bharat @2047.
Key topics included the genesis, legal framework, functions, and objectives of PACS, and how they contribute to rural economic empowerment. The potential of mPACS (modernized PACS) to scale business activities and increase member income was also showcased through successful examples.
The programme emphasized the collaboration between Gram Panchayats and PACS as crucial for driving village-level economic development, with PACS now authorized as implementing agencies for various government schemes.
Participants were encouraged to explore opportunities for PACS to align with export-oriented products under the One District One Product (ODOP) initiative and connect with national Multi-State Cooperative Societies in seeds, organics, and exports.
The importance of structured orientation and capacity-building training for Panchayat members, secretaries, PACS Board of Directors, and members was highlighted, using a specialized training module developed by NCUI focused on Business Promotion & Diversification of PACS.
