Technology Adoption Essential for PACS to Remain Current, Argues Cooperation Secretary at National Forum
In a significant step towards modernising rural finance in India, Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) participated in a national workshop hosted by the Ministry of Cooperation on July 1st, 2025, in New Delhi. The event, themed around "Emerging Technologies in PACS", was held at PHD House and attended by 122 PACS members and officials from various cooperative and financial institutions.
Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, urged PACS to rapidly embrace technology or risk being left behind. In his address, he highlighted the transformative role that technology could play in making PACS transparent, viable, and relevant for future needs.
As part of the Prime Minister's "Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam" campaign, Dr. Bhutani planted a sapling during the event. The workshop also featured three technical sessions, during which success stories from Tamil Nadu, Jammu & Kashmir, and Mizoram were shared.
The workshop discussed themes like Digital India, precision agriculture, AI, IoT, and policy innovations aimed at transforming grassroots credit societies into multi-functional hubs. Dr. Bhutani emphasised the importance of integrating services like weather forecasts, pest advisories, and disaster warnings to support rural livelihoods more effectively.
One of the key initiatives discussed was the computerisation of nearly 68,000 PACS, with ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems. This enhances operational efficiency, transparency, and service delivery by streamlining accounting, member management, and credit disbursal digitally. The computerisation also supports uniformity across states by following Model Bye-Laws issued by the Ministry.
PACS are also being integrated into the Digital India ecosystem, acting as Common Service Centers and even functioning as distribution points for government schemes such as Jan Aushadhi Kendras and Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samridhi Kendras. This integration ensures that PACS serve as one-stop rural hubs for various services, increasing their utility and financial viability.
Emerging technologies such as AI and IoT can be integrated with blockchain to enable precision farming, predictive analytics, and smarter supply chains. For instance, blockchain can secure seed certification data, ensuring authenticity and tamper-proof records, building farmer trust. Predictive analytics powered by AI can help PACS offer tailored credit products based on real-time agricultural data, thereby improving risk management and loan recovery.
Blockchain technology can also be employed to maintain transparent and tamper-proof transaction and certification records, reducing opacity in PACS operations and improving accountability. Its use in supply chain management ensures fair pricing, food safety, and faster payments, enhancing farmer empowerment and trust in PACS.
Platforms like the eKCC portal enable paperless, real-time onboarding of farmers with Aadhaar authentication and land record validation, facilitating smoother and faster credit disbursal through PACS. This digital credit readiness reduces the need for multiple bank visits and long queues, improving farmer access to credit and strengthening PACS as a financial intermediary.
The government is developing a 'cooperative stack' to integrate all rural schemes through PACS, transforming these societies into unified delivery mechanisms for government benefits. This reduces fragmentation and enhances transparency and efficiency across multiple welfare schemes, reinforcing PACS's central role in rural finance.
By embracing these technologies and reforms, PACS can reinvent themselves as transparent, efficient, and technologically advanced rural financial institutions that not only provide credit but also support farmers through diversified services and modern agricultural practices. This will ensure their relevance and survival in the evolving financial ecosystem.
References: [1] Ministry of Cooperation (2025). "Transforming PACS: A Journey Towards Modernisation." Retrieved from
Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani suggested that PACS should adopt technology swiftly to remain competitive, as technology could render PACS more transparent, viable, and relevant for future business demands in finance. The government's integration of PACS into the Digital India ecosystem includes the use of AI and IoT for precision farming, tailored credit products, and blockchain for secure transactions, all of which can boost PACS's role as a technologically advanced financial institution in rural areas.
