Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed the Rajya Sabha that Bihar has witnessed significant progress in strengthening cooperative institutions and expanding financial inclusion under the Centre’s initiatives.
He said that under the Financial Inclusion Fund (FIF), NABARD and the Bihar State Cooperative Bank have sanctioned Rs 1.76 crore for 785 micro-ATMs during FY 2024–25 and Rs 53.77 lakh for 239 micro-ATMs in FY 2025–26. In addition, Rs 22.11 lakh has been approved for 390 Financial Literacy Awareness Programmes (FLAPs), including 130 FLAPs sanctioned in FY 2025–26.
Highlighting cooperative expansion, Shah said Bihar has formed 4,518 new Multipurpose PACS, dairy and fishery cooperatives under the national plan to establish two lakh such societies. He added that Bihar is actively implementing the PACS Computerisation Project, with 4,460 out of 4,495 PACS onboarded on ERP-based national software.
The minister noted that PACS in Bihar are being developed as multi-service centres. Under the state plan, 7,221 godowns with 17.14 lakh MT storage capacity have been constructed, while 278 godowns were sanctioned in FY 2025–26.
PACS are also functioning as Common Service Centres, PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras, Jan Aushadhi Kendras, and providing fertilizer, banking, and digital services, thereby strengthening rural economic activity in the state.