Amidst PACS strengthening across states, Bihar PACS managers face starvation

Due to a change in the Bihar Co-op Act of 2008, PACS managers and their families are suffering, as many of them are not getting any salary, dashing the hopes of reviving PACS of the state.

There are 8643 PACS in the state and they are involved in various activities including, procurement of paddy and wheat, crop insurance, PDS shop, CSC Centres and others. “Such a large workforce which is demoralized due to the non payment of salary, does not augur well for the good of the PACS”, said leading a coooperator from the state Sunil Kumar Singh, who is on the Boards of several national level co-operatives.

“Due to the provision of salary payment to these PACS managers from the dividend, several managers of loss making PACS are not getting salaries due to which their families are facing starvation”, said Bihar State Cooperative Bank Chairman Ramesh Chandra Chaubey who has also written a letter to the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the Cooperation Minister regarding the salary of PACS managers

“It is being requested that the necessary guidelines regarding the arrangement of salary payment of PACS managers should be issued”, reads the letter of Chaubey.

The copy of the letter has also been given to Biscomaun Chairman Dr Sunil Kumar Singh also by Chaubey in the presence of Bihar PACS Employees Union Chairman Ajay Kumar Gupta recently at Patna, to push the matter. Sunil is an important functionary of RJD, a coalition partner of Nitish govt.

In his letter, Chaubey demanded that the salaries of managers working in PACS should be given from the cooperative department. There are 8643 PACS in the state, he said.

It bears recalling that earlier the salary payments of PACS managers were disbursed by the State Cooperative Bank and District Central Cooperative Banks but by making provisions in the state cooperative act in 2008, it was stopped. The PACS managers are demanding that the earlier rule should be restored, the letter said.

Readers would recall that a few months back several cooperators of Bihar met the state governor Rajendra Arlekar and submitted a memorandum enlisting several issues including lack of salaries for PACS employees to zero interest for farmers to the Banking Regulations (Amendment) Act.

The Union Ministry of Cooperation has launched several new initiatives in the interest of PACS including strengthening of PACS through computerization, PACS as CSCs, formation of new FPOs by PACS, eligibility of PACS for LPG distributorship, PACS as Jan Aushadhi Kendra and others. But Bihar PACS employees have their own tale of hardship.