Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Shri Amit Shah chaired a review meeting today in Raipur, Chhattisgarh, focused on expanding cooperative societies within the state. During the visit, he inaugurated the Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACS) across all 33 districts of Chhattisgarh, tasking them with functioning as Water Committees.
Shri Shah was joined by Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Shri Vishnu Deo Sai, Union Minister of State for Cooperation Shri Murlidhar Mohol, Deputy Chief Minister Shri Arun Sao, and Union Ministry of Cooperation Secretary Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani.
As part of the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, Shri Shah also planted saplings under the “Peepal for People” initiative and inaugurated several development projects initiated by the Chhattisgarh government.
In his address, Shri Shah highlighted the establishment of cooperative societies in every panchayat across the country to fulfill Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi.” He urged the Chhattisgarh government to introduce a new public dairy scheme focusing on tribal development and to enhance PACS as multi-purpose units incorporating dairy and fisheries cooperatives.
Shah noted that all 2,058 PACS in Chhattisgarh have adopted Model Bye-Laws and stressed the importance of utilizing the National Cooperative Database to identify dry areas for cooperative expansion. He emphasized that computerizing PACS will enable them to operate as Common Service Centers (CSCs), thereby extending their benefits to rural populations.
He called for a partnership between NCCF, NAFED, and the state for ethanol production, encouraging farmers to grow maize by ensuring that all maize is purchased at Minimum Support Price by the central government. Shah also recommended 100% registration of PACS on NAFED and NCCF portals for agricultural produce sales.
Shah proposed that every trader, PACS, and cooperative society should have accounts with District Cooperative Central Banks. He identified the need to set up multi-feed ethanol production plants in Chhattisgarh’s cooperative sugar mills and urged the state to promote maize and pulse cultivation.
To support the growing network of PACS, he advocated for the establishment of at least four new District Cooperative Central Banks (DCCBs) in addition to the six existing ones. He also encouraged a collaborative effort among the state’s Animal Husbandry, Agriculture, Tribal Affairs, and Cooperative departments to boost economic development in rural and tribal areas.
