Rs.5,000-crore scheme launched by NABARD for the computerisation of PACS

Rs.5,000-crore scheme launched by NABARD for the computerisation of PACS

A grant of Rs.5,000 crore has been announced by the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) on 13 July 2020 for the computerisation of 35,000 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) by the Fiscal year 2023.

Key Points:

• The central government will disburse the grant to the state government who will have to release a matching grant for the PACS.
• The first announcement of computerisation of 63,000 functional PACS was announced in the Budget of 2017-18 under which Rs.1,900 crore was allocated to NABARD by the government.
• More than 40 percent of 12.5 crore marginal farmers are dependent on PACS for receiving short term loans.
• The computerisation of PACS will help in ensuring the integration of PACS with the Core Banking System (CBS) of District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs), which will provide a smooth flow of credit.
• NABARD will upgrade around 5000 PACS in 2020 and 15000 in each fiscal year from 2021 to 2023.
• PACS provide a one-stop solution for the supply of key inputs for agriculture such as seeds and fertilisers to the farmers and also undertake the procurement of wheat and paddy under the MSP operation of the Food Corporation of India (FCI).