The Union Cabinet, in its latest move, has granted permission for the establishment of 2 lakh primary agricultural credit societies (PACS) and dairy fish cooperatives in the rural areas that are yet to be covered. This is aimed at boosting the agricultural and dairy sectors of the country by providing better financial assistance and infrastructure to the farmers and dairy farmers.
These cooperatives will be set up in the uncovered villages and panchayats, which will provide a total of 25 facilities. Currently, there are about 63,000 functional PACS in the country. The new initiative will help expand the reach of PACS and provide more credit facilities to the farmers in need.
Briefing the media after a Union Cabinet meeting chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Information and Broadcasting Minister Anurag Thakur said of the nearly 99,000 PACS across the country, 63,000 were functional. There still were 1.6 lakh panchayats without PACS and nearly 2 lakh without any dairy cooperative society, he said. The Cabinet approved steps to strengthen the cooperative movement in the country and deepen its reach at the grassroots level.
The establishment of dairy fish cooperatives will also be a significant boost to the dairy sector, which is an important source of income for a large section of the rural population. The government’s decision to set up these cooperatives is expected to provide the necessary support to the dairy farmers in terms of better infrastructure, marketing facilities and credit facilities.
“Initially, 2 lakh PACS, dairy or fishery cooperatives would be established over the next five years. The action plan for implementation of the project shall be prepared by NABARD, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) and National Fishery Development Board (NFDB),” the government said.
The plan will be implemented with the convergence of various schemes by leveraging the ‘whole of government’ approach. The proposal will enable cooperative societies to set up and modernise necessary infrastructure. It will provide farmer members with requisite forward and backward linkages and enhance their income. The move will also help in generating employment opportunities in rural areas.
This move is expected to create more job opportunities in the rural areas and contribute to the overall growth of the agricultural and dairy sectors in the country. The government has taken a significant step in empowering the rural population by providing them with the necessary support and infrastructure to enhance their livelihoods.
The government also said there were a number of schemes that had been identified for convergence under the new plan. These include National Programme for Dairy Development (NPDD), and Dairy Processing & Infrastructure Development Fund (DIDF) under the Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying; Pradhan Mantri Matsya Sampada Yojana (PMMSY), and Fisheries and Aquaculture Infrastructure Development (FIDF) under the Department of Fisheries.
“A high level Inter-Ministerial Committee (IMC) under the chairmanship of Home & Cooperation Minister with Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Minister for Fishery, Animal Husbandry and Dairying; Secretaries concerned; Chairman NABARD, NDDB and Chief Executive NFDB, as members has been constituted and empowered to take necessary steps for smooth implementation of the plan,” said the statement.
