93% of Gram Panchayats covered by PACS, 2,52,151 out of 2,71,110

The question asked the Ministry of Cooperation to provide details on the coverage of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies (PACS) in Gram Panchayats, their linkage with central schemes, expansion into emerging sectors like organic farming and fisheries, and the monitoring mechanisms in place.

Asked and answered by: Asked by: Dr. Shivaji Bandappa Kalge and Shri Nilesh Dnyandev Lanke; Answered by: Ministry of Cooperation (Minister Shri Amit Shah).

What the government said

• As of 15.07.2026, 2,52,151 out of 2,71,110 Gram Panchayats are covered by PACS (93.0%), with 2,23,016 fully covered and 29,135 partially covered.
• Since the plan approval on 15.02.2023, 38,292 new PACS, dairy, and fisheries cooperative societies have been registered.
• PACS are linked to central schemes including PM-KISAN, PMKSK, PMBJK, and CSCs, enabled by Model Bye-laws allowing over 25 business activities.
• The PACS Computerization Project has an outlay of Rs. 2,925.39 crore to integrate PACS with national software and databases like RuPay and Kisan Credit Card.
• National Cooperative Organics Limited (NCOL) has 14,286 member societies and markets 29 products under the 'Bharat Organics' brand.
• National Cooperative Exports Limited (NCEL) has 16,408 member societies.
• NCDC has registered 70 Fish Farmer Producer Organisations (FFPOs) and is supporting the conversion of 1,000 fisheries cooperative societies into FFPOs.
• Monitoring is conducted through a multi-layered committee structure including Inter-Ministerial, National, State, and District levels, and via the National Cooperative Database (NCD) portal.

Also in the document

• The answer provides specific state-wise data showing significant variation in coverage, with Mizoram at 18.8% full coverage and West Bengal at 31.7% full coverage, compared to states like Goa (97.9%) and Chhattisgarh (96.9%).
• The answer states that 14,286 PACS and cooperative societies, including those from Maharashtra, are members of NCOL, directly addressing the specific mention of Maharashtra in the question.