In a major push towards financial inclusion, Rajasthan’s cooperative sector is gearing up to provide doorstep banking services to rural residents through PACS and primary dairy cooperative societies.
The initiative, launched under the state government’s “Sahakar Se Samriddhi” campaign, aims to transform cooperative institutions into rural banking touchpoints.
Reviewing the roadmap of the Rajasthan State Cooperative Bank, Cooperation Secretary and Registrar Dr. Samit Sharma directed officials to equip all active dairy cooperatives with micro-ATMs and designate them as Bank Mitras.
The target is to cover 5,000 cooperatives by September 2026 and all 12,000 active dairy societies by March 2027.
Supported by NABARD funding, the micro-ATMs will enable balance inquiries, cash transactions, loan disbursements, and repayments. So far, 2,700 PACS and 557 dairy societies have been equipped.
A new digital system is also being developed to allow cooperative managers to open accounts and collect deposits at villagers’ doorsteps, boosting rural access to banking while strengthening cooperative banks’ deposit base and lending capacity.