Min. Cooperation According to Amit Shah, 17,176 PACS have signed up to serve as common service centers so far
According to a statement made by Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Friday, 17,176 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have been formed to serve as Common Service Centres (CSC) and provide more than 300 services, including Aadhaar enrollment, banking, and insurance, across rural India.
According to Shah, there are around 95,000 PACS in the nation, and soon all will be integrated to begin CSC operations.
He predicted that during the next five years, 3 lakh new PACS would be constructed that will provide these capabilities right away.
The minister was speaking at this event, which was called “National Seminar on Delivery of CSC services through PACS.”
Today, PACS and CSC are coming together. Along with improving the amenities for the poor, this would revitalize and strengthen the rural economy, according to Shah.
According to him, 17,176 PACS had registered to serve as CSCs till Thursday afternoon. 6,670 PACS have also begun transactions as a result of this.
The remaining registered PACS will begin doing business in the next two weeks, according to Shah, who added that this would provide 13,000–14,000 young people jobs as operators.
The minister said that CSC will soon begin offering railway reservations and stated that work was being done to make air ticketing services available as well.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was struck in February to allow PACS to provide CSC services. The Ministry of Cooperation, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD, and CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. signed the Memorandum of Understanding.
PACS will now be able to serve as Common Service Centers, and more than 300 services, including 13 crore farmer members of PACS, would be made accessible to the rural populace. PACS’s commercial activity will rise, and it will assist them in developing into self-sufficient economic organizations.
These PACS would be able to provide residents all the services specified on the Digital Seva Portal of the CSC plan, including as banking, insurance, Aadhaar enrolment/update, legal services, agri-inputs like agricultural equipment, PAN cards, IRCTC, train, bus, and ticket-related services, etc.
According to Shah, “if the cooperative movement is to be strengthened, then its smallest unit, PACS, has to be strengthened first,” he stated.
He emphasized that PACS must be strong in order to boost the cooperative movement in the nation, which is why the Modi administration has made numerous steps to modernize them.
Achieving “minimum government, maximum governance, with last-mile delivery but without corruption” is best accomplished, according to Shah, via the CSC.
He said that by integrating PACS and CSC, the whole potential of the nation may be used for India’s growth.
The Minister for Communications, Electronics, and Information Technology, Ashwini Vaishnaw, emphasized that from 83,000 in 2014, there are now 5.19 lakh CSCs that are actively employed.
He said that since PACS serves as a CSC, the rural populace would now be able to access government programs and get a wide range of services at a very low cost.
Shah emphasized that the computerization of PACS has been allowed by the Modi administration with the aim of boosting PACS’ efficiency, bringing transparency and accountability to their operations, as well as allowing PACS’ capacity to diversify their business and engage in a number of activities/services.
Over the course of five years, around 63,000 functioning PACS would be computerized at a cost of Rs 2,516 crore, of which Rs 1,528 crore will come from the federal government.
