Shah asks DCCBs to open PACS in each Panchayat in next 5 years

Addressing the representatives of short-term credit organizations, which include State Co-op Banks to DCCBs to PACS in a function organized by NAFSCOB in New Delhi on Friday, Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said human-touch seen in PACS operations make it a unique financial institution and there is a need to both upgrade it and enhance its range.

Calling PACS the very soul of the cooperative movement, Amit Shah, who himself is a practicing PACS Chairman said if only we could open a PACS in each of 3 lakh panchayats, it will not only strengthen rural India but also enable the co-op movement as a force to reckon with.

Exhorting the representatives of State Co-op Banks and DCCBs, Shah said they should make a strategy to reach out to each panchayat in their area and set up a PACS in them in the next five years. He asked state co-op banks to monitor the same and asked NABARD to be a partner in DCCB’s bid to set up PACS in each Panchayat.

Today PACS advances are two lakh crores per annum but with the addition of 2 lakh PACS, it would become Rs 10 lakh crores per annum. But sadly, the Nabard’s annual report says that there has been a reduction in rural credit since 1992. It’s time we worked hard to make PACS professional in every manner possible, underlined the Minister.

Pitching for universal model bye laws and computerization of PACS, Shah said that digitalization of PACS have a number of benefits such as it would lead to upgradation of human resources, usher in prudential financial norms, better auditing and many more. There are youths in villages who are educated and know how to use computers. DCCBs should tap such resources, added Shah.

Shah also talked about the importance of making PACS financially viable and said that the new bylaws have listed 22 new initiatives for them. “I will wait for another 15 days and request you all to download the model bylaws and study it seriously along with your team to give constructive feedback, ” exhorted Shah who also got a presentation organized of the same by the Ministry before delegates in the post-lunch session.

Shah also talked about Kheti Banks and said PACS should be made the channel for long term credits also. This way farmers would not need to give papers in different banks as their papers in PACS would suffice, said Shah batting for replacement of the dual system to one.

Amit Shah also presented awards to outstanding State Co-operative Banks, District Central Co-operative Banks and Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). Several prominent persons including Minister of State for Cooperation, B.L. Verma, NCUI President Dileep Sanghani, ICA AP President Chandra Pal Singh, Nafed Chairman Bijender Singh, Nafscob Chairman Ravindra Rao, Co-op Secretary Gyanesh Kumar and Central Registrar Vijay Singh were present on the dais.

Shah also said that national conferences help create a common thrust area among co-operators who are drawn from various parts of the country. Such a unity of thought is important for the growth of the sector, he added. He also lamented the uneven growth of co-ops in different states and said if the cooperative movement is to develop uniformly and increase its scope, then a different strategy would have to be devised.