Over 37,000 new PACS, dairy, fisheries cooperatives set up in 3 yrs

Within three years of its five-year plan, India has registered 37,454 new Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS), dairy, and fisheries cooperatives, and strengthened 21,292 existing ones, the Ministry of Cooperation revealed.

Within three years of its five-year plan to establish new multipurpose Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS), dairy and fisheries cooperatives covering all panchayats and villages across the country, a total of 37,454 new PACS, dairy and fishery cooperative societies have been registered; and 21,292 dairy and fisheries cooperative societies have been strengthened as on June 4, 2026, a Ministry of Cooperation data reveals.

Five-Year Cooperative Expansion Plan

The plan entails establishment of two lakh new multipurpose PACS (M-PACS), dairy, fishery cooperative societies covering all the panchayats and villages in the country over a period of five years, through convergence of various existing Central government schemes, including Dairy Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF), National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), and PM Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), with the support of National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD), National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and state governments.

Almost two years after the constitution of the Ministry of Cooperation, the Centre had approved the five-year plan on February 15, 2023, to establish new multipurpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives. PACS is the lowest grassroots unit of the short-term cooperative credit system in India. Operating directly at the village level, it interacts with rural borrowers, provides short- and medium-term agricultural loans, and manages repayments. They occupy a predominant position in the co-operative credit structure and form its base. It serves as the final link between the ultimate borrowers on the one hand and the higher financing agencies, namely the Scheduled Commercial Banks, and the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and NABARD on the other hand.

The five-year initiative is supported by NABARD, NDDB, NFDB and state as well as Union Territory governments (UTs). "The government of India has approved the plan to establish new multipurpose PACS/dairy/fisheries cooperatives, aiming to cover all panchayats and villages in the country over the next five years. This initiative is supported by NABARD, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Fisheries Development Board (NFDB) and state and UT governments. As per the National Cooperative Database, a total of 37,454 new PACS, dairy and fishery cooperative societies have been registered, and 21,292 dairy and fisheries cooperative societies have been strengthened as of June 4, 2026 across the country since the approval of the plan on February 15, 2023," the latest data of the Ministry of Cooperation mentions.

Officials Confident of Early Target Achievement

An official in the Ministry of Cooperation told ANI that the estimated target to establish two lakh new multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fishery cooperative societies covering all the panchayats and villages across the country would be achieved before the completion of the targeted five-year duration under the initiative. "The process of the establishment of new multipurpose PACS, dairy, and fishery cooperative societies in all the panchayats and villages is progressing rapidly. It is also being ensured that these multipurpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperative societies are strengthened on time. The target will be achieved on or before the set duration," said an official, requesting anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.

Strengthening the Cooperative Movement

The Ministry of Cooperation was constituted on July 6, 2021 with a mandate, inter alia, to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country and deepen its reach up to the grassroots; and creation of appropriate policy, legal and institutional framework to help cooperatives realise their potential.

There are a total of 8,55, 072 PACS of various sectors across the country. Of them, 3,30,510 PACS are in the urban sector while 5,24,562 PACS are in the rural sector.

Diversifying PACS Activities

In order to diversify the economic activities of PACS to make them multipurpose economic entities, another official said, model byelaws have been prepared by the Ministry of Cooperatives, enabling PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities, including dairy, fishery, setting up godowns, procurement of foodgrains, fertilizers, seeds, LPG, CNG, petrol, diesel distributorship, short- term and long-term credit, custom hiring centers, Fair Price Shops (FPS), community irrigations and Common Service Centre. (ANI)

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