Centre takes 5 significant decisions for strengthening Primary Agricultural Credit Societies

Current Context: The government has taken five more important decisions revolving around PACS. These decisions were taken in a meeting between the Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah and Minister of Chemicals and Fertilizers Mansukh Mandaviya in New Delhi on June 8, 2023.

• PACS which are not functioning as fertilizer retailers will be identified and encouraged to function as retailers on the basis of feasibility in a phased manner.
• PACS which is not currently functioning as Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras (PMKSK) will be brought under the ambit of PMKSK.
• PACS will be connected with the marketing of organic fertilizers, especially fermented organic manure (FoM) or liquid fermented organic manure (LFOM) or phosphate-enriched organic manure (PROM).
• PACS can also be employed as drone entrepreneurs for spraying fertilizers and pesticides. Drones can also be used for the survey of the property.
• Under the Market Development Assistance (MDA) scheme of the Department of Fertilizers, fertilizer companies will act as an aggregator for small bio-organic producers to market the end product, in this supply and marketing chain of bio-organic fertilizers PACS will also be included as wholesalers/retailers
• A Primary Agricultural Credit Society (PACS) is a basic unit and the smallest cooperative credit institution in India. There are about one lakh Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies present across the country.

Question:

Q.1 How many Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) are present across the country? 

a. About 10,000
b. About 50,000
c. About 1 lakh
d. About 5 lakh