Govt to establish 3 lakh Primary Agricultural Credit Societies in next 5 years: Amit Shah

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The Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah said that the central government has set a target to establish3 lakh Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in the next 5 years.

He was speaking at the two-day (8 &9 September) National Conference of State Cooperation Ministers in New Delhi, on 8 September 2022.

He also said that a committee has been constituted to draft national cooperative policy for holistic development. 

He said that every state will have representation in it and former Union Minister Suresh Prabhu will head the committee.

The Cooperation Minister said, currently there are 65 thousand active Primary Agricultural Credit Societies PACS in the country.

IMPORTANT FACTS -

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) :

• Primary Agricultural Credit Societies are outside the Banking Regulation acts and they are regulated by the State governments not Reserve Bank of India.
• They are the third tier of the short term credit structure in the rural areas with State Cooperative Banks at the top with the District Central Cooperative Bank (DCCB) at the Middle and PACS at the bottom.
• The PACS are formed at the village level by the villagers. The members contribute to the capital of the societies.
• The PACS cannot accept the deposits of non-members nor can they provide loans to non-members.
• They provide loans only to their members only for agricultural and allied activities.
•  There are 95995 PACS in India (source RBI) and around 65 thousands are active.