17,176 PACS registered so far to function as Common Service Centres: Amit Shah

As many as 17,176 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) have been registered so far to function as Common Service Centres (CSC) for providing over 300 services like banking, insurance and Aadhaar enrolment in rural India, Cooperation Minister Amit Shah has said.

Shah said there are around 95,000 PACS across the country and soon all will be on-boarded to start CSC operation. In the next few years, he said around 3 lakh new PACS will be established which will provide these services from the start itself. The minister said this while addressing the 'National Seminar on Delivery of CSC services through PACS' in Delhi on Friday.

"Today both PACS and CSC are getting united. This will not only increase the facilities of the poor, but also give new energy and new strength to the rural economy," Shah said. He informed that around 17,176 PACS have got their registration done to function as CSC till Thursday afternoon. Out of this, 6,670 PACS have also started transactions. In the coming 1-2 weeks, the remaining registered PACS will start transactions, Shah said, adding that this will provide employment to about 13,000-14,000 youths as operators. The minister said that CSC will soon start train reservation service and added that efforts are on to allow air-ticketing service as well.

In February, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed to enable PACS to provide services offered by CSC. The MoU was signed between the Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, NABARD and CSC e-Governance Services India Ltd. PACS will now be able to function as Common Service Centres, along with this, more than 300 services will be made available to the rural population including 13 crore farmer members of PACS. It will increase the business activities of PACS and help them to become self-sustaining economic entities.

These PACS will 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, rail, bus, and air ticket-related services, etc. Shah said, "If the cooperative movement is to be strengthened, then its smallest unit, PACS, has to be strengthened first."

To strengthen the cooperative movement in the country, he stressed PACS need to be strong and therefore the Modi government has taken various measures for their modernisation. Shah said the CSC is the best medium for achieving "minimum government, maximum governance, with last-mile delivery but without corruption. He noted that the maximum potential of the country can be utilised for India's development by combining PACS and CSC.

Minister for Communications, Electronics & Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw highlighted that the number of active CSC has reached 5.19 lakh from 83,000 in 2014. With PACS functioning as CSC, he said the rural population will now be able to get many services and access government schemes at a very less cost. Shah highlighted that the Modi government has approved computerization of PACS with the objective of increasing the efficiency of PACS, bringing transparency and accountability in their operations, besides facilitating PACS to diversify their business and undertake multiple activities/services.

Around 63,000 functional PACS will be computerised over a period of five years with a total budget outlay of Rs 2,516 crore, with a central share of Rs 1,528 crore.