Parliament Question: Strengthening and computerisation of PACS in Bihar

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COOPERATION RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2894 ANSWERED ON 18.03.2026 Strengthening and computerisation of PACS in Bihar 2894 Shri Akhilesh Prasad Singh: Will the Minister of Cooperation be pleased to state: (a) the total number of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in Bihar and those computerised during the last five years, along with the number of farmer-members benefited; (b) the details of PACS converted into multipurpose societies and the range of services presently offered such as retail, storage, input supply and agri-services; (c) the funds allocated, released and utilised in Bihar under the cooperative grain-storage initiative during 2024–26; and (d) whether Government has reviewed diversification outcomes of PACS in Bihar and the steps taken to improve viability, digital integration and farmer outreach? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF COOPERATION (SHRI AMIT SHAH) (a) As per information received from Bihar State, Bihar has a total of 8,463 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS). The government has initiated the computerization of these PACS, with the goal of improving operational efficiency, transparency and service delivery to farmers. Till date, 4477 PACS have been Computerized in Bihar. (b) The details of PACS converted into multipurpose societies are as under:- S.No. Particulars Status i Number of PACS 8463 ii. Involved in 2 or more services 7617 iii. Involved in 3 or more services 6234 The major activities of these PACS include procurement, custom hiring centers, dry storage facilities, common services centers, fair price shops, fertilizer distribution etc. Further, in Bihar, 5375 PACS functioning as Common Services Centers, 2304 undertaking fertilizer distribution, 1696 upgraded as PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendra, 27 PACS are operationalas PM Jan Aushadhi Kendra & 450 PACS are engaged as Bank Mitra of State Cooperative Banks (StCB)/Distrcict Central Cooperative Banks(DCCBs) under ‘Cooperation among Cooperatives’ campaign. (c) In order to address the shortage of storage capacity for food grains in the country and creation of decentralised scientific grain storage infrastructure, the Government, on 31st May, 2023, has approved the Plan for the “World’s Largest Grain Storage Plan in Cooperative Sector”, which has been rolled out as a Pilot Project. The Plan entails creation of various agri infrastructure including godowns, custom hiring centers, processing units, Fair Price Shops, etc. at PACS/ other cooperative societies level through convergence of various existing schemes of the Government of India (GoI), such as, Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME), etc. The Plan is being implemented through the existing outlays of these schemes and no separate budget has been allocated for it. In Bihar, 36 PACS have been identified across 9 districts with a total storage capacity of 1.045 LMT. All the PACS have been approved in the DCDC, and loans have been sanctioned for 27 PACS. Hiring Assurances have been issued to all 36 PACS by the Bihar State Warehousing Corporation (BSWC), which will also act as the construction agency for the project. As per information received from the State, details of godown construction and funds allocation & utilization from FY 2024-26 is given in table below: Year No. of Capacity Sanctioned Amount Godowns Godowns under sanctioned (in LMT) amount made constructed construction godowns (in Rs available Crores) (in Rs Crores) 2024- 305 2.43 175.30 175.30 77 228 25 2025- 278 2.49 180.19 180.19 6 272 26 (d) The Government of Bihar has undertaken initiatives like paddy procurement through PACS, development of storage facilities at PACS, operationalizing PACS as Custom Hiring Centers, Common Services Centers, PM Kisan Samriddhi Kendras to improve PACS viability, implementing PACS Computerization to enable PACS to undertake their transactions through a common ERP software and membership drives to increase the farmer outreach of PACS. The total sanctioned PACS under the Centrally Sponsored Project for Computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies for the State of Bihar is 4477. Out of these sanctioned PACS, 4474 PACS have been on-boarded to ERP Software and of which, 4465 PACS have been declared as ePACS. Training has also been provided to PACS and DCCBs officials for operation of the e-PACS (ERP) software provided under the projects, details are as below:Type of Training Participants covered 2 Days ERP training of PACS Officials 4421 02 Week SI handholding support 4477 Refresher training of PACS Auditors 390 Refresher training-2 day ERP-PACS 969 Officials Total 10257 Ministry of Cooperation, NABARD and Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), Bihar are regularly reviewing the digitalisation progress of PACS in Bihar through regular monitoring under national and state-level committees. A structured monitoring framework has been established for effective review of progress of this project in States/UTs, which comprises of the National Level Monitoring and Implementation Committee (NLMIC), State and District Level Implementation and Monitoring Committees (SLIMC and DLIMC), State Cooperative Development Committee (SCDC) (under the Chief Secretary), and District Cooperative Development Committee (DCDC) (under the District Collector). These bodies ensure effective implementation, oversight, and coordination of all cooperative sector initiatives, including PACS computerization. State Cooperative Development Committee meetings under the chairmanship of Chief Secretary, Bihar are being held periodically in the State to review the performance of the cooperative sector in the State. The last SCDC meeting was held on 22nd January 2026. Weekly review meetings are being conducted across Bihar, including all districts, with the participation of RCS officials, Bihar State Cooperative Bank (StCB) officials, and other key stakeholders involved in the PACS Computerization Project. During review meetings, the daily day-end performance of PACS is being closely monitored for timely completion of day-end activities, which ensures transparency and accountability in financial transactions at the PACS level. ******