Rajasthan Targets 10% Rise in Cooperative Societies

• 07 Oct 2025

Why in News? 

During the launch of the Sahkar Membership Campaign, Rajasthan CM Bhajan Lal Sharma announced a plan to increase the number of cooperative societies by 10%, reinforcing the role of cooperatives in promoting rural prosperity and inclusive growth.

Key Points 

• Sahkar Membership Campaign: The drive, held between 2nd to 15th October 2025, aims to expand the cooperative movement across the state with a focus on women and youth participation. 
• PACS Expansion: New Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) will be established in 2,158 gram panchayats where none currently exist. Land will be allotted to cooperatives lacking warehouse space. 
• Farmer Empowerment: 
  • Over 7.7 million farmers have received interest-free crop loans worth ₹42,765 crore. 
  • 2.48 lakh new farmers benefited from ₹433 crore in fresh loans, and 30,000 beneficiaries availed ₹260 crore in livelihood loans. 
• Support Schemes: 
  • Under PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi, 7.6 million farmers received ₹7,054 crore. 
  • The state adds ₹3,000 annually per farmer under the CM Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana. 
• Animal Husbandry & Dairy: The Gopal Credit Card Loan Scheme provides up to ₹1 lakh interest-free loans for dairy activities. Mobile veterinary units are being deployed for animal health services.

Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) 

• About: PACS are village-level cooperative credit institutions forming the base of India’s three-tier cooperative credit structure, under State Cooperative Banks (SCBs) and District Central Cooperative Banks (DCCBs).  
  • They provide short- and medium-term agricultural loans directly to farmers. The first PACS was established in 1904. 
  • PACS are not banks as they are registered as societies under the Cooperative Societies Act,1912. 
• Status: As per the RBI (December 2022), India has about 1.02 lakh PACS, though only 47,297 were profitable as of March 2021.