71 multi-state cooperative societies under liquidation till Dec 15: Shah

New Delhi: Around 71 multi-state cooperative societies are under liquidation this year so far, with the maximum number of them located in Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Delhi and Odisha, Parliament was informed on Wednesday.

According to the data placed by Cooperation Minister Amit Shah in his written reply to the Rajya Sabha, five multi-state cooperative banks were also under liquidation till December 15, 2022.

Out of 71 multi-cooperative societies that are under liquidation, 15 of them are located in Rajasthan, followed by 13 in Maharashtra, 11 each in Delhi and Odisha, the data showed.

In a separate reply on the performance of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), Shah said 48,907 PACS were in profit, while 24,243 of them were in loss as of March 2020.

There are nearly 1 lakh PACs, Large Area Multipurpose Societies (LAMPS) and Farmers Service Societies (FSS) in the country, out of which data was submitted by 73,350 of them.

PACS constitute the lowest tier of the short-term cooperative credit structure in the country and play a significant role in transforming the agricultural and rural landscape of the Indian economy.

PACS provide credit facility, distribute agricultural inputs like seeds, fertilisers, procurement of food grains, storage facilities, etc to the member farmers.

The government is implementing a project ‘Computerization of 63,000 functional PACS’ across the country with a total financial outlay of Rs 2,516 crore.