Shah presides over review meeting on world’s largest cooperative food grain storage scheme

NEW DELHI: Union Home Minister and Minister of Cooperation Amit Shah presided over a key review meeting on the world’s largest cooperative food grain storage scheme in New Delhi. The conference was attended by Minister of State for Cooperation Krishan Pal Gurjar, Murlidhar Mohol, and officials from the Ministry of Cooperation, Ministry of Food and Public Distribution, Consumer Affairs, Food Corporation of India (FCI), NABARD, and National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC), among others.

In his address, Shah highlighted that the cooperative food grain storage scheme is a significant initiative aligned with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of “Sahkar Se Samriddhi” (Prosperity through Cooperation). He emphasised that the scheme would play a vital role in boosting two key indicators of economic progress: Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and employment generation. Shah pointed out that the scheme is designed to raise the earnings of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and, at the same time, provide rural job opportunities.

Shah emphasised the need to strengthen PACS as a core component of the scheme, reiterating that their financial sustainability and social relevance need to be ensured. Shah advocated for immediate measures to strengthen the financial position of PACS by increasing the loan tenure under the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF).

The union minister also instructed the Ministry of Food and Public Distribution and FCI to map warehouses at the national level to enable the implementation of the scheme as per the region’s requirements. He also instructed FCI, NCCF, NAFED, and State Warehousing Corporations to link PACS with maximum warehouses.

It was also agreed that more PACS should be included in the scheme and connect State Level Marketing Federations to form a complete cooperative supply chain.