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Under the PACS computerisation project with an outlay of Rs 2,925.39 crore, 79,630 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies have been sanctioned and 63,707 onboarded onto common ERP software.
A total of 54,707 PACS have been declared e-PACS, with 51.58 crore transactions completed through the software as on 15 July 2026.
Model Bye-laws allowing PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities have been adopted by 32 States and Union Territories.
Since the plan was approved on 15 February 2023, 38,138 new PACS, dairy and fishery cooperatives have been registered and 21,292 dairy and fishery societies strengthened.
PACS functioning as Jan Aushadhi Kendras receive a 30 per cent trade margin on MRP plus incentives, and can earn average annual income of over Rs 35,000.
India's rural cooperative credit system is a three-tier pyramid. At the base sit Primary Agricultural Credit Societies - village-level bodies owned by their farmer members, which lend short-term crop credit and supply inputs. Above them are District Central Cooperative Banks, and at the apex State Cooperative Banks, which connect through NABARD to the wider financial system. A PACS is therefore the point where institutional credit actually touches a farmer, and there are tens of thousands of them. The problem was that they ran on paper. Loan records, member registers and repayment histories existed only in ledgers, which made fraud easy, audit slow and integration with the banking system impossible. Computerisation puts every functional PACS onto a single ERP-based national software linked through DCCBs and StCBs to NABARD - so a member's credit history becomes visible, transactions become traceable, and the society can be plugged into digital payments. The Model Bye-laws do the complementary work: a PACS was historically a credit body and little else, and the new bye-laws let it undertake more than 25 activities - running a fair price shop, a Jan Aushadhi Kendra, a common service centre, storage, or dairy and fishery operations - so that the same village institution becomes multipurpose rather than depending on one seasonal line of business.
Simple Analogy: A PACS was a village lending desk with a ledger; computerisation and the new bye-laws turn it into a networked village enterprise.
Cooperative societies are a State subject, which is why every PACS is registered under a State Cooperative Societies Act and why central initiatives work through States.
Made three changes: extended Article 19(1)(c) to include the right to form cooperative societies; inserted Article 43B in the Directive Principles; and added Part IXB prescribing board size, tenure, reservation, elections, audit and limits on supersession.
A Directive Principle directing the State to promote voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies. It survives intact.
On 20 July 2021 the Supreme Court struck down Part IXB insofar as it applies to cooperative societies operating within a single State, because cooperatives fall in the State List and the amendment had not been ratified by half the States as required by the proviso to Article 368(2). Part IXB survives for multi-State cooperative societies, and Article 43B and the Article 19(1)(c) amendment were not disturbed.
Emphasises strengthening cooperatives of weaker and marginalised sections including tribal communities, and promoting value addition, processing and marketing of minor forest produce.
Make PACS multipurpose, multidimensional and transparent, with inclusive membership.
Key: Permit more than 25 business activities and provide adequate representation for women and Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Adopted by 32 States and UTs.
Bring all functional PACS onto a common ERP-based national software, linked with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.
Key: Outlay Rs 2,925.39 crore; 54,707 societies now e-PACS.
Cover every panchayat and village in the country over five years.
Key: Approved 15 February 2023, supported by NABARD, the National Dairy Development Board and the National Fisheries Development Board.
Extend affordable generic medicine retail into rural areas through existing cooperative infrastructure.
Key: Eligible PACS get a one-time grant of Rs 2 lakh, a 30 per cent trade margin on MRP and monthly incentives; the grant is prioritised for aspirational districts, remote rural areas, North-Eastern States, Himalayan regions and island territories, and for women, SC/ST, Divyangjan and ex-servicemen entrepreneurs. Jan Aushadhi Suvidha sanitary napkins are sold at Rs 1 per pad.
Map cooperative coverage nationally to identify gaps and enable district-wise planning.
Key: The data source for registration and strengthening figures reported here.
Promote cooperatives in minor forest produce, handicrafts and organic products in tribal areas.
Key: TRIFED spearheads the Van Dhan programme, with 100 per cent government assistance to tribal collectives organised as Self Help Groups or Van Dhan Vikas Kendra Clusters.
Created on 6 July 2021 to provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for the cooperative sector; runs Sahakar se Samriddhi and the PACS initiatives.
National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development - the apex refinance institution linking PACS, through DCCBs and StCBs, to the wider financial system.
Supports the establishment and strengthening of new dairy cooperatives under the coverage plan.
Supports fishery cooperatives under the same plan.
Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India, which spearheads the Van Dhan programme for collection and sale of minor forest produce.
Statutory corporation providing financial assistance to eligible cooperative societies.
GS Paper 2 > Polity: Constitutional Amendments, Centre-State Relations; Governance: Government Policies. GS Paper 3 > Economy: Agriculture, Rural Credit
General Awareness > Rural and Cooperative Banking, Financial Inclusion
General Awareness > Polity and Government Schemes
General Awareness > Current Affairs
The 97th Amendment, cooperative credit structure and PACS reform are recurring UPSC Prelims and Mains topics and are core Banking exam material.
Primary Agricultural Credit Society - the village-level base of the three-tier rural cooperative credit structure.
A PACS onboarded onto the common ERP-based national software; 54,707 so declared.
Central template bye-laws enabling PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities with inclusive membership; adopted by 32 States and UTs.
The part inserted by the 97th Amendment governing cooperative societies, struck down for single-State societies in 2021 but surviving for multi-State cooperatives.
Directive Principle on voluntary formation, autonomous functioning, democratic control and professional management of cooperative societies.
The national mapping of cooperative coverage used to identify gaps and plan district-wise.