With ARDBs & RCSs, he propels entire co-op sector into digital realm
Move aimed at helping over 1 crore 20 lakh farmers
Jitendra Tiwari
Today we find ourselves in an exhilarating era where cooperatives take center stage, not only for us cooperators but also for the government led by Shri Narendra Modi. The appointment of Amit Shah as the Cooperation Minister has infused a rare dynamism into the cooperative movement. Shah pledge to achieve the goal of ‘ Sahkar se Samridhi ‘ has elevated the cooperative movement to unprecedented heights. The Union Minister’s grassroots connections, strategic aptitude, political heft, administrative expertise, cooperative exposure, and reformist proclivities help him transform India’s cooperative sector. His firm belief that the cooperative sector can play an important role in making India self-reliant as well as ensuring economic prosperity of 70 crore poor who are aspiring to lead better lives. To channelise these 70 crore people with co-operative sector and make them financially self-reliant, Shah has taken several innovative inspirational initiatives to make it crystalize into reality.
In a significant move towards advancing the vision of “Sahkaar Se Samriddhi”, Amit Shah recently launched the computerization scheme for the offices of the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCSs) and Agriculture and Rural Development Banks (ARDBs) across states.
With this Shah has virtually put the entire co-operative sector into digital realm serving the cause of two pivotal initiatives of the Modi government – Digital India and the Ministry of Cooperation – as foundational to rural prosperity. The computerization scheme, costing approximately Rs 225 crore, targets the modernization of cooperative systems, including Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACSs), Registrar of Cooperative Societies offices, and Agricultural and Rural Development Banks.
Under the Digital India framework, Shah highlighted the government’s efforts to extend cooperation digitally to villages, fostering transparency and accountability. The computerization of ARDBs and RCSs, with an allocated budget of Rs 120 crore and Rs 95 crore, respectively, aims to facilitate medium and long-term loans for farmers.
Shah commended the government’s comprehensive vision in enhancing the digital ecosystem within cooperatives. The initiative, which follows the earlier computerization of PACSs and cooperative banks, propels the entire cooperative sector into the digital realm. The National Cooperative Database, a by-product of these efforts, provides accurate information at various levels, aiding in the sector’s development.
The computerization project of ARDBs, spanning 13 states and UTs, seeks to link 1851 units with NABARD through Common National Software. This initiative, championed by the Ministry of Cooperation, aims to standardize business processes, enhance operational efficiency, and bring transparency to ARDB operations.
The integration with Common Accounting System (CAS) and Management Information System (MIS) will help farmers get medium and long-term loans smoothly. The plan is to link these ARDBs to PACSs to facilitate long-term loans to farmers easily.
The initiative will increase the operational efficiency, accountability and transparency in ARDBs 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 RCSs in 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 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.
According to several experts, digitalisation of the cooperative sector has been long due and it will modernise and revive the ailing sector.
“Precise data related to cooperative loan disbursements would help the managements make well-informed decisions and enable the governments to make policies related to it,” said Dr N Satyanarayan, former head of the National Cooperative Union of India, an apex organisation representing the entire cooperative movement in the country.
