PACS Can Revolutionise Cooperative Movement in India: IFFCO Chairman

Dileep Sanghani, Chairman of IFFCO, emphasizes the groundbreaking move by the Government of India to establish Primary Agriculture Cooperative Societies (PACS) in every Panchayat nationwide. He believes that with the ambitious goal of forming three lakh PACS in the next five years, this visionary decision can potentially revolutionize India's rural economy. According to Mr. Sanghani, it not only holds the promise of transformation but also places unprecedented bargaining power in the hands of farmers, a prospect beyond the imagination of Western economists.

During a webinar organized by the World Cooperation Economic Forum (WCopEF) on "Good Governance Day," commemorating the birth anniversary of former Prime Minister Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, Dileep Sanghani, also a founding member of WCopEF, highlighted the transformative role of cooperation in fostering a vibrant social and solidarity economy. He stressed the significance of District Administrations adapting to evolving times in public affairs management to align with the emerging Cooperative Economic framework.

He said, "The District Administration must equip itself with the changing times in the management of Public Affairs and meet the requirements of the Social and Solidarity economy. It must address this newly emerged Cooperative Economic framework which may resolve all the challenges of public service delivery and create new delivery models, will deliver value for money, and implement coherent policies in a better way."

Dr Rajvir Sharma, President, IIPA

Talking about the emergence of the social economy during the webinar, Dr Rajvir Sharma, President, IIPA Delhi region said, “When both the top-down and bottom-up models are found to be deficient in meeting the needs of the society, particularly the deprived section, so in this context the idea and concept of social and solidarity economy emerged. And, recently the Government of India has put a specific focus on developing and strengthening the cooperative sector. Therefore, whether it is PACS, FPOs, or collaboration in the field of agriculture and health, it is for the development of rural and social economy."

Binod Anand, Executive President, WCopEF

Terming the government’s promotion of PACS as a watershed moment for the Indian economy and the cooperative movement, the Executive President of WCopEF Binod Anand said, “The government has approved a plan to create warehouses, custom hiring centers, primary processing units, and other Agri-infra for grain storage at PACS level, by converging various schemes of Government such as AIF, AMI, SMAM, PMFME, etc.”

“If embedded with technology like Blockchain, which may provide E-tokenized warehouse receipts, will become the game changer of the complete value chain of Food grains. It will not only reduce the wastage of food grains and transportation costs but enable farmers to realize better prices for their produce and meet various agricultural needs at the PACS level itself. This process is being piloted in 22 States, UTs in 1,690 PACS through Cooperatives,” informed Anand.

The webinar featured insights from distinguished figures in the social sector, academia, and agriculture. Notable speakers included Dr R G Agarwal, Chairman, Dhanuka Group; Dr Suresh Mishra, Professor, IIPA Centre for Consumer Studies; Dr Sudhir Suthar, Faculty Member, JNU Centre for Political Studies; Dr Devi Prasad Juvaddi, Director of Agriculture, Human Development, and M&E Groups, Centre for Good Governance; Dr Rakesh Arrawatia, Professor, Institute of Rural Management and Adjunct Faculty at LBSNAA, Mussoorie; and Ashish Anand, Founder of Whrrl. Their collective expertise contributed diverse perspectives to the discussion.

World Cooperation Economic Forum 

The World Cooperation Economic Forum aims to facilitate a participatory governance system, emphasizing the principles of maximum governance and minimum government through webinars, conferences, and various interactions. The forum is dedicated to creating a Cooperative governance module, fostering national integration by converging diverse perspectives. Leveraging its extensive network of Cooperative organizations, WCEF is committed to developing a governance model adaptable to skill, scale, and speed.

Moreover, through collaboration with educational institutions and alumni, WCEF strives to enhance district administrators' skills, making them proficient in commercial, legal, and financial negotiation, as well as contract management. This comprehensive approach seeks to equip administrators for effective and connected Cooperation-specific governance.

The World Cooperative Economic Forum was founded to democratize the global value chain for innovative food systems amid rising concerns over inequality in the post-Covid world. WCopEF acts as a key catalyst to bring a Social and Solidarity economy at the fore which emphasizes human social values and ethics in economic activity and relations, and economic practices built upon democratic governance and self-management, reciprocity, solidarity, and active citizenship.