Parliament Question: Implementation of National Cooperation Policy 2025 and PACS digitization

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 4161 ANSWERED ON 01.04.2026 Implementation of National Cooperation Policy 2025 and PACS digitization 4161 Shri K.R.N. Rajeshkumar:

Will the Minister of COOPERATION be pleased to state:

(a) the milestone-wise achievements under the National Cooperation Policy, 2025 since its

notification, particularly regarding the professionalization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS);

(b) the current status of the "Sahakar Sarathi" IT infrastructure for digital banking in Rural Cooperative Banks and the number of PACS successfully onboarded as of March, 2026; and

(c) the details of the tax deductions proposed in the 2026-27 Budget for inter-cooperative society dividend income and its expected impact on the liquidity of State-level federations? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION (SHRI AMIT SHAH)

(a) The National Cooperation Policy (NCP) 2025, unveiled on 24th July, 2025 stipulates its implementation based on the principle of cooperative federalism. The national-level committee constituted to draft the policy consisted of experts from the cooperative sector, representatives from national, state, district, and primary-level cooperative societies, Secretaries (Cooperation) and Registrars of Cooperative Societies of States, etc.

In line with the recommendations of the NCP, 2025, the Ministry has requested all States/UTs to formulate State-level Cooperation Policies in alignment with the NCP, so that the Central and State Governments can work together synergistically towards strengthening cooperative societies and the cooperative movement in the country. In this regard, most States have constituted policydrafting committees, and three States (Odisha, Himachal Pradesh, and Mizoram) have already launched their State-level Cooperation Policies.

NCP aims to strengthen and professionalise the cooperative sector, particularly, Primary Cooperative Societies such as, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) etc. Key

achievements to strengthen PACS are as follows:

(i) Digitalization: The Government has launched the Central Sector Project for Computerization of PACS, in 2022. Government of India initially approved 63,000 PACS under Project of Computerization of functional PACS with a total financial outlay of ₹2,516 Crore which has now been increased up to 2925.39 Crore covering 79,630 PACS which entails bringing all the functional PACS onto an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) based common national software, linking them with NABARD through State Cooperative Banks

(StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs). The state-wise details are at Annexure- A including financial assistance to the States/UTs.

So far, compared to the Approved PACS 79,630, total 61,478 PACS are digitalized and computerized on a common ERP PACS Software.

(ii) Capacity Building: Training and handholding are given to PACS members to ensure professional management of cooperatives, data is provided in Annexure-B.

(iii)Financial Strengthening: Under the PACS computerization schemes 31States/UTs are

provided financial assistance to make PACS self-reliant, data is in Annexure -A.

(b) Sahakar Sarathi Private Limited (SSPL) has been established to empower Rural Cooperative Banks (State Cooperative Banks, District Central Cooperative Banks) with standardized, integrated, and cost‑effective technology so that they can offer banking services at par with Scheduled Commercial Banks.

By centralizing operations and support functions, SSPL will improve capital efficiency, lower operating costs, and enable Rural Cooperative Banks (RCBs) to focus on growth. The company commenced business on 09 Sep 2025, with equity contributions from NABARD, National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC) and RCBs. On 5th December, 2025 SSPL has launched 14 key digital and governance-enabling services.PACS are primary societies registered under the concerned State Cooperative Acts and are not directly related to SSPL.

(c): The proposed relief measures announced in the Union Budget 2026–27 are aimed at providing tax certainty, improving financial viability of cooperative societies and ensuring enhanced income and welfare for their members. The benefit of the measure is as under:

Deduction of inter-cooperative society dividend under the new tax regime to the extent it is

further distributed to members:

The dividend received by a cooperative society from another cooperative society is allowed as deduction to the extent it is distributed to members. This will prevent double taxation within the cooperative structure. This will strengthen federated cooperative institutions and ensure that surplus flows down to members in the form of higher dividends.

*****Annexure-A

PACS Computerization Details :20th January 2026 Total Total ERP amount Sanctioned ERP Go Day End Audit released in S. No State/UTs PACS Onboarded Live Completed Completed Cr.

1 Maharashtra 12178 12028 12011 12000 11949 130.73 2 Bihar 4495 4478 4475 4471 4364 51.76 3 Gujarat 6216 5705 5575 5458 4724 93.97 4 Andhra Pradesh 2037 2021 2021 2017 2016 37.41 5 Chhattisgarh 2028 2028 2028 2028 1975 28.35 6 Rajasthan 8525 6157 6153 5860 3828 84.83 7 Jharkhand 2797 1479 1491 1461 1378 34.30 8 Punjab 3482 3172 2760 2385 786 32.94 9 Madhya Pradesh 5455 4532 4524 4530 4492 66.43 10 J&K 708 537 537 537 537 10.37 11 Himachal Pradesh 1885 1376 1234 1210 608 28.25 12 Haryana 710 624 580 568 454 8.79 13 Uttar Pradesh 6257 3061 3052 2922 2110 67.10 14 Karnataka 5894 4337 3690 3606 3252 67.83 15 Assam 850 577 576 569 566 17.02 16 Tripura 475 267 247 262 197 8.21 17 Sikkim 131 107 107 107 105 3.28 18 Goa 86 51 46 41 37 1.19 19 Puducherry 45 45 45 45 30 0.67 20 ANI 46 46 46 46 46 0.69 21 Mizoram 99 25 25 25 24 1.27 22 Ladakh 10 10 10 10 10 0.12 23 Nagaland 231 102 67 53 17 4.43 24 DNH & DD 9 4 4 4 4 0.12 25 Arunachal Pradesh 139 13 13 13 13 1.22 26 Uttarakhand 1216 669 668 589 469 5.69 27 Manipur 308 199 195 196 128 3.14 28 Meghalaya 330 11 9 10 4 2.34 29 Tamil Nadu 4561 4509 4508 4509 529 51.73 30 West Bengal 4187 3308 3145 2874 208 45.79 31 Odisha 4240 0 0 0 0 18.07 Grand Total 79630 61478 59842 58406 44860 908.06Annexure-B PACS Training and Handholding Details- 20th January 2026- Sum of Total Training to S. No States/UTs Handholding to PACS Sanction PACS PACS 1 Andaman and Nicobar 46 46 46 2 Andhra Pradesh 2037 592 1066 3 Arunachal Pradesh 139 14 14 4 Assam 850 539 572 5 Bihar 4495 4418 4413 6 Chhattisgarh 2028 2028 2028 7 Daman and Diu 9 4 4 8 Goa 86 41 33 9 Gujarat 6216 5754 4451 10 Haryana 710 710 699 11 Himachal Pradesh 1885 934 637 12 Jammu and Kashmir 708 533 537 13 Jharkhand 2797 1386 1006 14 Karnataka 5894 5066 946 15 Ladakh 10 7 0 16 Madhya Pradesh 5455 4535 4535 17 Maharashtra 12178 12000 11724 18 Manipur 308 208 50 19 Meghalaya 330 108 27 20 Mizoram 99 25 23 21 Nagaland 231 60 11 22 Puducherry 45 45 43 23 Punjab 3482 1470 1866 24 Rajasthan 8525 6701 3280 25 Sikkim 131 107 29 26 Tamil Nadu 4561 4532 4532 27 Tripura 475 239 174 28 Uttar Pradesh 6257 3062 0 29 Uttarakhand 1216 670 0 30 West Bengal 4187 3326 44 31 Odisha 4240 0 0 Total 79630 59160 42790