Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha that 40,214 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) across 28 states and 5 union territories are functioning as Common Service Centres (CSCs) as of November 21, 2024. These PACS deliver over 300 e-services to rural citizens, including banking, insurance, Aadhaar enrolment/updation, health services, and legal services.
Maharashtra leads the initiative with 5,860 PACS functioning as CSCs, followed by Uttar Pradesh with 5,125 PACS. This initiative provides PACS with additional and stable sources of income, enhancing their economic viability and reducing dependency on credit activities alone.
Regarding the computerization of PACS, data as of March 31, 2024, reveals that 67,010 PACS have been selected for computerization. Among these, hardware has been delivered to 38,829 PACS, and 24,177 PACS have been onboarded onto an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) platform.
To strengthen PACS, the Government of India has approved a project for the computerization of functional PACS with a financial outlay of Rs 2,516 crore. The project aims to bring all functional PACS onto a common ERP-based national software, linking them with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs).
The funding for the project is shared among the Government of India (Rs 1,528 crore), state governments (Rs 736 crore), and NABARD (Rs 252 crore).
