(GIST OF KURUKSHETRA) Fostering Collective Prosperity: Empowering PACS through Computerization

(JULY-2025)

Fostering Collective Prosperity: Empowering PACS through Computerization

Context:

Prior to the launch of the project, record maintenance was mostly manual in many PACS and paper based systems being prone to frequent human error, translated to delays in audit, lack of transparency and an impression of unreliability. The absence of standardized procedures led to inefficient practices, sometimes misaligned with State Act/ rules/byelaws. Lack of digital infrastructure was not allowing PACS to connect with upper tier seamlessly and led them to function in silos or lose time and effort in having to operate in manual ways.

The various steps of the project process and phases of progress as depicted above are explained below:

First phase- (Hardware delivery and FHR & FVR) Onboarding of PACS and stakeholders to the digital platform Coops India with logins and gathering of preliminary data in two reports, the First hand Report (FHR) and Field Verification Report (FVR).
Second Phase: (DCT and Pre-migration) Digitization of legacy data by way of data entry in the Digital Communication Tool (DCT). Membership details, land details, loan details, deposit details, procurement related details, etc. were captured in the tool and tallied with legacy records. The correctness was certified by the PACS Secretary. The audited balance sheets were tallied with the same generated from the DCT data. Differences were placed in unreconciled accounts. The same were again certified by the PACS Secretary.
Third phase: (Migration and ERP Trial Run) The data was migrated to e-PACS tware and entries were made directly into the e-PACS for the current year.
Fourth phase: (Daily entry, day end till current date) The Secretarial and Internal Audit (SI) and PACS then made entries in the e-PACS for each successive day and after tallying daily balances did the day end to freeze the transactions of the day. This was done till the PACS came to current date and thus completed the digitization journey.
Fifth phase: (Reconciliation, audit and HoC) For position as on 31March, to close the financial year the auditors performed the on-system audit using the audit module of the e-PACS enabling a Year End Process to freeze the transactions of the Financial Year (FY). Where needed, reconciliation of unreconciled amounts that were observed during migration were reconciled and/or authorised.
The key deliverable of the project is the ERP software with 22 modules, which will be capable of digitizing and processing the transactional data of all business activities being undertaken by the PACS so as to generate comprehensive year-end financial statements as per CAS-MIS norms and reports/ MIS as may be needed. The software is currently available in 11 Indian languages, with local language login interfaces and reports.

New Initiatives

Apart from the core process flows of the project implementation, this project is being implemented with a difference, to include features like:

Peer learning that is exchange of experience from one state to the others is being leveraged for improved functioning of PACS.
Integration with UIDAI to facilitate verification of the membership and to make available the products and services of PAC5 online. This will enable seamless delivery of services such as subsidies and interest subvention and also will help build a single-verified member database for policy planning.

Integration of e-PACS portal with Common Service Centers, National Cooperative Database, Jan Aushadhi Kendras, Financial Inclusion Gateway, Webland and other government portals is on the anvil for interoperability.
A mobile application has been launched to provide farmers with real-time access to their account summaries.
The geo-tagging of over 66,000 PACS has been completed, laying the groundwork for enhanced visibility and business potential through search engine optimization.
Document Archival Retrieval System is now live, with over 5,000 documents— amounting to approximately 25 GB of data— digitized and catalogued. This archival system serves as a foundational database, preserving legacy records for accurate reference and data validation.

Vision for the Future

The hallmark of success of the project will be adoption of the software and digitised work processes by PACS which need to flow from suitable adaptations in the eco-system in which the PACS operates. NITI Aayog has identified conduct of timely e-audit of PACS as one indicator and at a later stage, enhanced speed of sanction and disbursement of loans as another.

However, beyond computerization, a broad vision for the future encompasses:

To support PACS in becoming multipurpose engines powering rural transformation. Expanding non-credit business like CSC, PMKSK, FPS/PDS
Expanding computerization services to non-credit co-operatives like dairy, animal husbandry, fisheries, honey etc.
Aspire growth in membership base, revenue & profitability of PACS. Impact positively on PACS business activities.
Development of a Co-op Grid, with NABARD & PACS, DCCBS, STCBs; for seamless information flow & anchoring competitive federalism among them
Doorstep delivery of services through adoption of farmer centric app, QR scanning features, mobile based soil testing, E-Comm powered bye PACS, cashless transactions, etc.
Improving PAC5 governance, HR management activities and admin processes

Implementation of welfare schemes like DBT for rural households/citizens through e-PACS
Improving members’ education/ awareness and offering personalized products/services through PACS.
Building an ecosystem by establishing networks amongst PACS/DCCBs/StCBs/ other institutions, highlighting best practices of PACS, facilitating knowledge sharing between rural & urban co-operatives.
Evolve this scheme into a pay-per use model to be self-sustainable activity managed by a shared services entity.

Conclusion:

To sum up, rural cooperative credit institutions are going through a process of policy induced transformation, that will prepare them better to carry out their critical role in driving rural economic prosperity, while sustaining the focus on inclusion, and remaining watchful to preserve their own financial soundness, amidst growing competition from other financial entities in rural areas.