The Chief Minister's Office of Rajasthan announced on Sunday, 26 July 2026 that nearly 4,900 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) in the state have joined multi-business activities, marking a significant milestone in the cooperative sector's diversification drive. The post, shared on the official CMO handle, stated — 'राजस्थान में लगभग 4 हजार 900 पैक्स बहु-व्यावसायिक गतिविधियों से जुड़ चुके हैं' ('In Rajasthan, approximately 4,900 PACS have joined multi-business activities') — and tagged Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol, who oversees cooperative affairs at the Centre. The post was accompanied by the hashtag #AapnoAgraniRajasthan ('Our Leading Rajasthan'), the state government's branding for flagship development initiatives.

Context

PACS are village-level cooperative credit institutions that have traditionally provided short-term agricultural credit, farm inputs and marketing support to rural communities. For decades, most PACS functioned as single-purpose credit windows, limiting their economic footprint in rural areas. The move to multi-business activities means these societies can now engage in procurement, storage, dairy operations, fuel distribution and other services alongside their core credit function.

Policy Backdrop

The shift is rooted in a national cooperative revival launched after the Ministry of Cooperation was created in 2021 under the Union government. In 2023, the ministry circulated model bye-laws enabling PACS across India to expand into multi-purpose commercial activities. Separately, a nationwide computerisation programme covering 63,000 PACS was rolled out in 2022-23, providing hardware, software and training support to help societies modernise their operations. Rajasthan, which has one of the country's largest PACS networks, appears to be tracking ahead of or in line with the Union government's target of converting at least 50 per cent of PACS into multi-purpose entities by 2025-26. Similar diversification efforts have been reported in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh under the same model bye-laws framework.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of this expansion are small and marginal farmers and rural cooperative members who gain access to a wider range of services — from grain storage to dairy linkages — without leaving their village ecosystem. By broadening the revenue base of PACS, the model is also intended to make these societies financially self-sustaining, reducing their dependence on government subventions. The tagging of Union Minister Murlidhar Mohol in the post signals coordination between the Rajasthan state government and the Union Ministry of Cooperation, underscoring the cooperative diversification agenda as a joint federal effort rather than a purely state-driven initiative.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the pace of PACS computerisation rollout in Rajasthan's remaining societies and whether the state's next budget cycle allocates fresh resources for cooperative infrastructure. The completion of the digital integration of all PACS will be critical to enabling real-time monitoring of multi-business transactions and ensuring accountability in the expanded cooperative ecosystem. Rajasthan's progress could serve as a reference point for other large states still in early stages of PACS diversification.