NEW DELHI: Broadening the ambit of primary cooperatives and creating new jobs, the ministry of cooperation on Thursday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the ministry of electronics and information technology, NABARD and Common Service Centres (CSC) e-Governance Services India Limited to enable thousands of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) to provide different services to rural population across the country.
“The PACS are the soul of cooperatives and making them multipurpose as providers of about 20 services will increase employment opportunities in rural areas,” said minister of home and cooperation Amit Shah who was along with minister of electronics and information technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, was present at the signing in ceremony. Under the MoU, the PACS will now be able to function as CSC and be able to provide all the services listed on the Digital Seva Portal of CSC scheme to citizens, including banking, insurance, Aadhaar enrolment/update, legal services, agri-inputs like farm equipment, PAN card, IRCTC, and rail, bus, and air ticket related services. Describing the MoU as a win-win situation for all, Shah said that this will not only help in fulfilling Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of ‘Sahkar Se Samridhi’ and making cooperatives the backbone of rural development, but also strengthen both cooperatives and farmers.
He said that making PACS viable was the biggest problem in front of the cooperative sector, and today a new beginning has been made by adding many new dimensions to the functioning of PACS.