Govt to computerise 1,851 agri, rural development banks, state coop registrars

The government has announced that it will computerise state cooperative registrars and 1,851 offices of Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) under a scheme with a budget of Rs 225.09 crore.

The central government has taken several steps to strengthen all the cooperative societies across the country. Currently, it is computerising all Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) in the country. "On the lines of the computerisation scheme of all PACS in the country, a centrally sponsored scheme has been approved for computerisation of 1,851 units of ARDBs of 13 states through a national unified software," the cooperation ministry said in a statement.

The government has also decided to computerise the offices of Registrar of Cooperatives of all states and Union Territories, it said. A Central Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) will be established, which will work towards the successful implementation of the scheme. "The total estimated expenditure for this scheme will be Rs 225.09 crore," the statement said.

The implementation of this scheme will not only enable people to quickly access services provided by the cooperative departments of the states and the offices of ARDBs but will also bring transparency and uniformity in the functioning of these offices, which will make them more efficient and save time, it added.