NABARD Hosts Workshop to Empower Cooperatives

Quick Summary

• A regional workshop aimed at strengthening cooperatives in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Uttar Pradesh was held by NABARD’s Telangana Regional Office in hyderabad.
• It was conducted in collaboration with the Union Ministry of Cooperation and the respective cooperation Department.
• Siddharth Jain, Joint Secretary to the Ministry of Cooperation, emphasized the importance of cooperatives for rural prosperity, food security, and inclusive growth.
• NABARD Chairman Shaji K V highlighted progress under the computerisation project for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), stating it has created a digital infrastructure that supports e-marketing and digital services for rural communities.
• Discussions included scaling operations of PACS/MPACS (Multipurpose PACS), promoting grain storage infrastructure growth within cooperatives, and enhancing computerisation.

Indian Opinion Analysis

The workshop underscores ongoing efforts to modernize India’s cooperative institutions as foundational tools for rural economic development. The computerisation initiative led by NABARD reflects a shift toward digitization not only to streamline operations but also to broaden service offerings like e-marketing. This appears vital for addressing inefficiencies historically associated with such societies while encouraging scalability.

moreover, linking PACS with higher-tier systems could strengthen financial inclusion by reducing duplication and facilitating better integration within India’s vast cooperative ecosystem. The emphasis on grain storage enhancement is likely intended to ensure better food security management-a recurring goal linked heavily with agricultural productivity. By fostering these advancements across states with strong agrarian influences like Uttar Pradesh or Tamil Nadu, India’s cooperative model might potentially be positioned as an critically important driver of inclusive rural growth.read more: Link