DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY IN THE COOPERATIVE SECTOR

The Ministry of Cooperation has rolled out a suite of digital initiatives to modernise the cooperative sector under the ‘Sahkar Se Samriddhi’ vision. A centrally‑sponsored Computerisation of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) project, now funded at ₹2,925.39 crore, has onboarded 63,686 PACS onto an ERP‑based national software, recording over 51.58 crore digital transactions by 15 July 2026. The ePACS platform offers 22 ERP modules, Aadhaar‑linked services, cloud‑based storage, maker‑checker controls and multilingual support in 20 languages. Parallelly, the National Cooperative Database (NCD) now lists about 8.6 lakh cooperatives across 30 sectors, with a upgraded NCD 3.0 portal and GeoTag mobile app launched 6 July 2026. Additional reforms include computerisation of Registrar offices, a Cooperative Ranking Framework, and RBI‑approved relaxations for urban and rural cooperative banks, all aimed at enhancing transparency, governance and service delivery.