Unlocking Potential of Idle Financial Assets in India (See 'Corp Brief') SARFAESI - In absence of any adjudication by the DRT in determining the debt, statutory scheme permits reliance upon claim made by secured creditor for purpose of fixing pre-deposit: HC (See 'Legal Desk') CCI okays acquisition of shares in Nxtra Data by Alpha Wave Ventures (See 'Corp Brief') CCI okays acquisition of 21% voting interest in Astemo Ltd. by Honda Motor (See 'Corp Brief') FEMA - Claims & liabilities pertaining to periods prior to approval of resolution plan, which do not survive under approved plan, are extinguished & cannot be enforced: SAFEMA (See 'Legal Desk') Special Drive launched for expeditious Disposal of Long-Pending Labour Cases (See 'Corp Brief') Amit Shah to launch NAFED's auction portal 'NAFEX.in' (See 'Corp Brief') SEBI - A judicial pronouncement cannot ordinarily be modified or reviewed through post-disposal miscellaneous application; Tribunal becomes functus officio upon disposal of appeal: SAT (See 'Legal Desk') Railways approves Kavach Deployment Worth Rs.270 Crore on East Coast (See 'Corp Brief') DIBD and AISF sign MoU to promote Language Technology and Multilingual Innovation in Assam (See 'Corp Brief') IPR - Injunction allowed as defendant's adoption of marks is not honest or bona fide; marks are deceptively similar to plaintiff's registered trademark, such that an average consumer with imperfect recollection would likely be confused: HC (See 'Legal Desk') NMDC accelerates Digitalisation and Sustainable Mining to support 100 MTPA Vision (See 'Corp Brief') Union Minister sanctions over 42,000 houses in MP; 38,000 families perform grih pravesh (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Where a Section 34 court has already examined the award, a possible alternative interpretation of the contractual clause is insufficient to justify interference: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Tech Innovation and disruption in Construction Industry (See 'CORP EINSICHT') Union Minister reviews Power Sector and Urban Development Schemes with Jharkhand Govt (See 'Corp Brief') APEDA facilitates First Export of fresh Uttarakhand Litchi to Italy (See 'Corp Brief') Trade Marks - Quasi-judicial authority cannot validly base its decision on grounds that were not specifically disclosed in SCN, thereby depriving noticee of an effective opportunity to respond: HC (See 'Legal Desk') Nadda calls for Push towards a TB-Free India (See 'Corp Brief') India must take control of security-related necessities to remain future-ready: RM (See 'Corp Brief') A&C - Financial hardship cannot justify payment of disputed amount linked to fulfilment of deliverable-based obligations: HC (See 'Legal Desk')

Cabinet nod for computerization of Primary Agriculture Credit Societies

Published: Jun 29, 2022

By TIOLCorplaws News Service

NEW DELHI, JUNE 29, 2022: THE Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) with the objective of increasing efficiency of PACS, bringing transparency and accountability in their operations; facilitating PACS to diversify their business and undertake multiple activities/ services. This project proposes computerization of about 63,000 functional PACS over a period of 5 years with a total budget outlay of Rs. 2516 crore with Government of India share of Rs. 1528 crore.

The Primary Agricultural Cooperative credit societies (PACS) constitute the lowest tier of the three-tier Short-term cooperative credit (STCC) in the country comprising of approx.13 Cr. farmers as its members, which is crucial for the development of the rural economy. PACS account for 41 % (3.01 Cr. farmers) of the KCC loans given by all entities in the Country and 95 % of these KCC loans (2.95 Cr. farmers) through PACS are to the Small and Marginal farmers. The other two tiers viz. State Cooperative Banks (StCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs) have already been automated by the NABARD and brought on Common Banking Software (CBS).

However, majority of PACS have so far been not computerized and still functioning manually resulting in inefficiency and trust deficit. In some of the states, stand-alone and partial computerization of PACS has been done. There is no uniformity in the software being used by them and they are not interconnected with the DCCBs and StCBs. Under the able guidance of Shri Amit Shah, Hon'ble Minister of Home and Cooperation, it has been proposed to computerize all the PACS throughout the Country and bring them on a common platform at National level and have a Common Accounting System (CAS) for their day to day business.

Computerization of PACS, besides serving the purpose of financial inclusion and strengthening service delivery to farmers especially Small & Marginal Farmers (SMFs) will also will become nodal service delivery point for various services and provision of inputs like fertilizers, seeds etc. The project will help in improving the outreach of the PACS as outlets for banking activities as well as non-Banking activities apart from improving digitalisation in rural areas. The DCCBs can then enrol themselves as one of the important options for taking up various government schemes (where credit and subsidy is involved) which can be implemented through PACS. It will ensure speedy disposal of loans, lower transition cost, faster audit and reduction in imbalances in payments and accounting with State. Cooperative Banks and District Central Cooperative Banks.

The project comprises of development of cloud based common software with cyber security and data storage, providing hardware support to the PACS, digitization of existing records including maintenance support and training. This software will be in vernacular language having flexibility of customisation as per the needs of the States. Project Management Units (PMUs) will be set up at Central and State levels. District Level Support will also be provided at cluster of about 200 PACS. In the case of states where computerization of PACS has been completed, Rs. 50,000/- per PACS will be reimbursed provided they agree to integrate with/adopt the common software, their hardware meets the required specifications, and the software was commissioned after 1st February, 2017.

TIOL CORP SEARCH

TIOL GROUP WEBSITES