BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday inaugurated 1,542 new Multipurpose Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (MPACS) in the state. He further announced that 77 PACS will be developed as model societies in the first phase.
“This initiative aims to strengthen the cooperative movement, making it more people-friendly and effective in serving the needs of farmers and rural communities. The other objectives are to promote agricultural growth, improve rural livelihoods and enhance the overall efficiency of the cooperative sector in the state,” Majhi said.
He said the new MPACS will provide various services to farmers and rural communities including credit facilities, agriculture inputs, market access and value addition.
“The state government has decided to undertake 54 business activities including dairy, fishery, setting up of godowns, procurement of food grains, sale of fertilisers, seeds, LPG, CNG, petrol and diesel. These model PACS will function as one-stop shops, providing all types of agricultural facilities under one roof,” the chief minister informed. At present, the state has 2,711 PACS and with this addition, the total number of PACS in the state has reached 4,253.
Majhi urged cooperative institutions to focus on resolving farmers’ problems and provide real-time settlement of their issues. “Computerisation is meaningless if it does not serve this purpose,” he added.
The chief minister further pointed out that many cooperative societies still use Excel sheets for accounting and uploading them, which can lead to corruption. “We have directed that all primary agriculture cooperative societies’ account books be audited to promote transparency and accountability in cooperative institutions, ensuring they truly serve farmers’ needs,” Majhi said.