Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has launched the statewide ‘Sambandh’ membership campaign for Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) and Large Area Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPCS), urging farmers to join the cooperative movement in large numbers.
Speaking at a state-level event at OUAT Krushi Shiksha Sadan in Bhubaneswar, Majhi said cooperatives are not political platforms but a foundation for the economic development of farmers.
Odisha, he said, has become the first state to formulate its own Cooperative Policy 2026, while rural cooperative societies are being developed as multi-service, one-stop centres.
For 2024-25, 322 societies distributed dividends to farmer-members, while more than 500 societies are expected to benefit around eight lakh farmers.
PACS and LAMPCS are being equipped to provide fertilisers, seeds, farm machinery, banking, crop insurance and milk collection under one roof. The state is also offering Rs 3,100 per quintal MSP for paddy.
The government has inaugurated 185 upgraded mandis, 50 Custom Hiring Centres, 250 CSCs, 60 consumer stores, 70 PACS offices and warehouses, and 21 milk collection centres. Online core banking and real-time settlement have also begun in 300 PACS.
