Bhubaneswar: Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday launched 1,542 Multipurpose Primary Agriculture Cooperatives (MPACS) in the state.
With the launch of the new MPACS by the CM at a programme held at the Convention Centre of Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar, the total number of PACS in the state has gone up to 4,253. There were already 2,711 PACS in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said the state government is giving priority to the implementation of various new programmes in coordination with the Union Cooperation Ministry to make the cooperative movement people-oriented. A total of 54 programmes have been taken up, an official release said.
Some of the important programmes are the introduction of model by-laws to diversify PACS and LAMPCS; cleanliness and strengthening of PACS through computerisation, supply of fertilizers and seeds, setting up of public medicine centres and common service centres, setting up of agricultural service centres, setting up of consumer stores, setting up of scientific grain storage centres etc, he said.
Stating that state government has decided to develop 77 PACS as model PACs in the first phase, the CM said these model PACS will act as a One-Stop Shop, where all types of agriculture-related facilities will be available under one roof.
The Chief Minister expressed the hope that Model PACS and LAMPCS would empower the cooperatives. The Chief Minister announced that the state government has decided to return the deposits to all the depositors of Bhubaneswar Urban Cooperative Bank, which has been closed since 2015. He said that this will help in re-establishing people’s trust in the Co-operative Bank.
Stating that the new government is committed to making the cooperative sector efficient and vibrant, the Chief Minister said that efforts will continue to restore people’s trust in cooperatives and make them a major engine of rural economic development.
The CM said cooperative organisations should focus on solving the problems of farmers and do real-time settlement of their problems. Otherwise, there is no point in computerisation. Many organisations are still uploading their calculations in excel sheets but this will lead to corruption.
Therefore, the Chief Minister ordered thorough audit of the accounts of all primary cooperatives.
He said the state government has introduced many schemes for farmers, animal husbandry, fisheries, housing, textile industry and women. The delivery of this plan to the beneficiaries is done by organisations like Primary Agriculture Cooperatives, or LAMPCS (Large Area Multipurpose Cooperative Society).
He said that cooperative societies have an important contribution to the agriculture sector of Odisha. Odisha is perhaps the only state where more than 60 per cent of total crop credit is disbursed through cooperative banks and commercial banks disburse about 30 per cent.
Advising the farmers to repay loans on time, the Chief Minister said that for the past few years, there has been a practice of ever-greening in the name of loans. Hopefully, this is no longer happening now, and farmers are getting loans.
He said that more than 90 per cent of the agricultural families of our state are provided with various services for agricultural work through Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperatives.
Noting that OMFED has become a backbone for dairy farmers in the state, the CM said a decision has been taken in the state Cabinet to implement Go-Mata Yojana along with Kamdhenu to empower the dairy farmers.
The Chief Minister said that the cooperative movement in Odisha will be transformed into a mass movement.
On this occasion, an agreement was signed for the development of the Gopalpur Cooperative Training Centre. The Chief Minister also distributed Micro ATM and Rupay Cards to the members of some cooperative societies.
