Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah informed that the construction of warehouses has started in 13 PACS in 13 States/ UTs. States/ Union Territories and National Level Federations such as NAFED, NCCF have identified 1,711 PACS to be included in this pilot project.
“In order to address the shortage of capacity for food grains in the Country, the Government on 31.05.2023, has approved the Plan for the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”, to be rolled out as a Pilot Project”, he said while replying to a query raised by a Lok Sabha member.
The minister’s reply further reads, “The Plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure at PACS level, including warehouses, custom hiring centers, processing units, Fair Price Shops, etc. through convergence of the existing schemes of the GoI, such as, AIF, AMI, SMAM, PMFME, PMKSY and MIDH”.
“To ensure smooth and effective implementation of the plan, the Ministry of Cooperation has constituted an Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC), which is authorized to modify guidelines/ implementation methodologies of the schemes identified for convergence, as and when the need arises”, he said.
“A National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) has also been constituted having members from Ministries / Departments, Central Government agencies concerned to steer the overall implementation of the Plan and reviewing the progress of implementation, etc”, he added.
Besides, 8,200 applications have been received for membership of Bhartiya Beej Sahkari Samiti (BBSSL), which has been setup as an Umbrella organization for cultivation, production and distribution of improved seeds under a single brand name.
This Society will increase availability of improved seeds to the farmers, boost productivity of crops and enhance the income of farmers.
“109 PACS from 5 States having wholesale consumer petrol pumps have given the approval for conversion into Retail Outlets, out of which 43 PACS have received the Letter of Intent (LOI) from the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs)”, said Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah.
He added, “Based on the discussions with the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas, guidelines have been issued to convert the existing bulk consumer licensee PACS into retail outlets for increasing the profit of PACS and generating employment opportunities in rural areas”.
“Besides, the government has allowed PACS to be included in the Combined Category 2 (CC2) for allotment of retail petrol/ diesel outlets. As per information received from Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs), a total of 228 PACS have applied online for retail petrol/ diesel outlets”, Shah said while replying to a query raised by a Lok Sabha MP.
“So far, 4,289 PACS/ cooperative societies have applied online for PM Janaushadhi Kendras, out of which 2,293 PACS have been given initial approval also. Besides, 559 cooperative societies have been onboarded on GeM as buyers”, he added.
Shah further said, “A total of 62,318 PACS have been sanctioned from 28 States/ UTs under the project for computerization. Software is ready and trials have already started in 5,673 PACS in 26 States/ UTs so far”, he said.
In a bid to make new multipurpose PACS/Dairy/Fishery Cooperatives in uncovered Panchayats, as reported by States/ UTs, the process for registering 9,961 new PACS/ Dairy/ Fishery cooperative societies in 23 States/ UTs is in various stages.