There are 1,00,428 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)/ Large Area Multi-Purpose Societies (LAMPS)/Farmers Services Societies (FSS) and 619 State Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (SCARDB) and Primary Cooperative Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (PCARDBs) in the agriculture sector.  

Ministry has taken up formulation of New National Cooperation Policy to help in realising the vision of 'Sahakar se Samriddhi', promoting the cooperative based economic development model, strengthening the cooperative movement in the country and deepening its reach up to the grassroots. In this regard, consultations were earlier held with stakeholders and suggestions for formulating the new Policy were invited from the Central Ministries/ Departments, States/UTs, National Cooperative Federations, Institutions and also from the general public. A National level committee has been constituted on 2nd September 2022 under the chairmanship of Shri Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, consisting of experts of the cooperative sector, representatives from National/ State/ District/ Primary level cooperative societies, Secretaries (Cooperation) and RCSs from States/UTs, officers from Central Ministries/ Departments to analyse the collated feedback, policy suggestions & recommendations to formulate the draft of the new Policy.

1. Computerization of PACS: Process to onboard 63,000 functional PACS on an ERP based common national software with an outlay of ₹2,516 Crore started.

2. Model byelaws for PACS: Model byelaws prepared and circulated for their adoption as per the respective State Cooperatives Act to enable PACS to undertake more than 25 business activities like dairy, fishery, setting up of godowns, LPG/ Petrol/ Green energy distribution agency, banking correspondents, CSC, etc.

3. PACS as Common Service Centres (CSC): MoU signed between Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD and CSC - SPV to facilitate functioning of PACS as CSCs to improve their viability, provide e-services at village level and generate employment.

4. National Cooperative Database: Preparation of an authentic and updated data repository of cooperatives in the country started to facilitate stakeholders in policy making and implementation.

5. Establishment of Multi-Purpose PACS, Dairy and Fisheries Cooperative Societies in every Panchayat/Village: A plan has been approved by the Government to set up 2 lakh new multi-purpose PACS, dairy and fisheries cooperatives covering every Panchayat/Village in the next five years by taking advantage of various existing schemes.

6. National Cooperative Policy: A National level committee comprising of experts and stakeholders drawn from all over the Country constituted to formulate the New Cooperation Policy to create an enabling ecosystem to realize the vision of ‘Sahakar-se- Samriddhi’.

7. Amendment of MSCS Act, 2002: Bill introduced in the Parliament to amend the centrally administered MSCS Act, 2002 to incorporate provisions of 97^th Constitutional Amendment, strengthen governance, enhance transparency, increase accountability and reform electoral process in the Multi State Cooperative Societies.

8. National Cooperative Development Corporation: New schemes for cooperatives launched by NCDC in various sectors such as ‘Swayamshakti Sahkar’ for SHG; ‘Deerghavadhi Krishak Sahkar’ for long term agricultural credit; ‘Dairy Sahkar’ for dairy and ‘Neel Sahkar’ for fisheries. Total financial assistance of Rs. 34,221 Crores disbursed in FY 2021-22.

9. Member Lending Institutions in Credit Guarantee Fund Trust: Non-scheduled UCBs, StCBs and DCCBs notified as MLIs in CGTMSE Scheme to increase share of cooperatives in lending.

10. Cooperatives as ‘buyers’ on GeM portal: Cooperatives permitted to register as ‘buyer’ on GeM, enabling them to procure goods and services from nearly 40 lakh vendors to facilitate economical purchases and greater transparency.