Amit Shah to Launch Computerisation Projects for Agri & Rural Dev Banks

New Delhi, Jan 28 (PTI) Union Cooperation Minister Amit Shah will launch on Tuesday a computerisation project for agriculture and rural development banks and Registrar of Cooperative Societies.

According to an official statement issued on Sunday, Shah will launch the "computerisation project of ARDBs and RCSs of States/UTs".

The launch programme is being organised by the Ministry of Cooperation in collaboration with the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC).

The Computerization of agriculture and rural development banks (ARDBs) and Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCSs) offices of states/UTs is an important step taken by the ministry.

"This project will modernise and enhance the efficiency of the cooperative sector by bringing the entire cooperative ecosystem on a digital platform," the statement said.

As many as 1,851 units of ARDB in 13 states/UTs will be computerised and linked to the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (Nabard) through a common national software.

The initiative will increase the operational efficiency, accountability and transparency in ARDB by standardising business procedures through a Common Accounting System (CAS) and Management Information System (MIS).

Furthermore, the initiative aims at reducing transaction costs, facilitating loan distribution to farmers, and enabling real-time data access for better monitoring and assessment of schemes.

The move will benefit small and marginal farmers connected with ARDBs for credit and related services through Primary Agriculture Credit Societies (PACSs).

Under the second major initiative, the aim is to computerise offices of RCS in all states and Union Territories.

It will motivate RCS offices for paperless functioning and to implement an IT-oriented workflow in accordance with the Cooperative Acts and Regulations of the States and Union Territories.

The computerisation will also lead to better efficiency, accountability and transparency in RCS offices, setting up analytics and MIS and ensuring linkage with the national database.

As part of the major initiatives of the Ministry of Cooperation, the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACSs) are being computerised and linked to Nabard through Common National Software.

The PACSs are also being enabled to start digital services by taking them on board as Common Service Centers (CSCs).

"So far, more than 50,000 PACSs have been onboarded as CSCs, and over 30,000 have already started providing services," the statement said.

The ministry has set up a new National Cooperative Database, containing data of more than 8 lakh cooperative societies, and this database will be launched soon and made available to all stakeholders.

More than 1,200 participants will attend Tuesday's event, including senior officials of all states and Union territories, secretaries of cooperative departments and Registrars of Cooperative Societies, presidents of all state cooperative agriculture and rural development banks (SCARDBs), representatives of primary cooperative agriculture and rural development banks (PCARDBs) and ARDB units.