Latest news with #PACS
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Business Standard
2 days ago
- Business
- Business Standard
Best of BS Opinion: India's bold visions, sour gaps, and ripe debates
Every monsoon, when the fruit cart rolls into our lane, we usually spot the cherry box and instinctively reach for the reddest ones, until an old neighbour chuckles and informs us that the darkest ones are sweeter. Not all cherries are the same — some are crimson and glossy, others dusky and firm, a few are unexpectedly sour. Yet together, in one basket, they tell a richer story of variation than uniformity. That's what today's policy landscape feels like: a mix of bright ideas, deep-rooted challenges, and uncertain flavours. Taken separately, each issue raises its own questions. Taken together, they speak to the complexity of India's ongoing transformation. Let's dive in. The draft National Telecom Policy 2025, for instance, is a glossy red cherry, plump with promises of universal 5G, Rs 1 trillion in annual investment, and sweeping employment. But when you bite into it, the lack of short-term strategy and blind spots around industry stress, spectrum clarity, and PSUs leaves a sour aftertaste, notes our first editorial. If it has to deliver, the final version will need to ground itself in the messy soil of current telecom realities. A deeper red cherry, full of nostalgia and earthy depth, comes in the form of India's new National Cooperative Policy. Once a purely agrarian pillar, cooperatives now span 30 sectors. The government envisions a 30 per cent jump in cooperatives and digital revamps of PACS. But many cherries in this basket are bruised, like 40 per cent of PACS are defunct, and regulatory overlaps persist, highlights our second editorial. If digitisation, governance reforms, and export-readiness don't come together, this vision could rot on the tree. In his column, Ajay Tyagi cautions that India's grand cherries — Net-Zero 2070 and Viksit Bharat 2047 — might be all glossed if we don't define what sweetness actually means. Without measurable targets, time-bound plans, and political consensus, these could become overripe dreams that fall before harvest. Meanwhile, Tulsi Jayakumar peels back the skin on another kind of cherry — India Inc's promoter-run firms. Built for continuity, they are now exposed to boardroom fissures and weak governance. She argues it's time to evolve the model: rebalancing control, reforming boards, and restoring investor trust. And in The New Geography of Innovation: : The Global Contest for Breakthrough Technologies, Ajit Balakrishnan offers a fresh handful altogether. Mehran Gul's debut isn't a tech brochure, it's a global tasting tray. From Station F in Paris to China's AI breakthroughs, Gul dismantles the myth that Silicon Valley has the sole recipe for invention. What makes this book juicy isn't the data alone, but the 200 voices inside it, each shaping a new geography of ideas. Stay tuned!
Time of India
2 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Delay in milled rice supply irks DM
Madhubani: Presiding over the review meeting of the district paddy procurement task force on Tuesday, district magistrate Anand Sharma expressed dissatisfaction over delay in custom milled rice (CMR) supply under the kharif marketing season 2024-25. The meeting was attended by officials, PACS chairpersons, millers and representatives of the State Food Corporation. The DM said 41 PACS have been identified with over one lot of CMR still pending, collectively accounting for approximately 100 lots. He issued a stern warning to the PACS concerned chairpersons, millers and block cooperative officers, directing them to ensure 100% CMR supply to the State Food Corporation by Aug 5. Failure to comply will result in strict action under the Public Demand Recovery Act, 1914, and relevant cooperative laws, he said.
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Indian Express
Maharashtra cooperative banks' agricultural NPA rise drastically; poll promises of farm loan waiver blamed
Cooperative banks in Maharashtra have seen a sudden rise in non-performing assets (NPA) related to the agriculture sector. This rise in such loans defaulted by borrowers is a result of a combination of factors, including loan-waiver promises made before the Assembly polls and public sector banks failing to lend to farmers. This rise in NPA in the cooperative sector comes at a time when the central government has taken major reforms and is refinancing the sector. As of March 31, 2025, agri NPA in the cooperative sector stood at 24.11 per cent – a steep rise from the 17,85 per cent for the quarter ending December 31, 2024. The total NPA amount of cooperative banks stood at Rs 8,214 crore as of March-end, compared to Rs 7,739 crore in December-end. Across Maharashtra, agricultural NPA stood at Rs 31,253 crores – a rise from Rs 31.059 crore in December-end. The sector has seen a rise in NPA percentage from 11.80 per cent by December-end to 11.97 per cent by March-end. If cooperative banks see a rise in farmers defaulting, public sector banks have a completely different picture. The agricultural NPA of these banks went down from Rs 18,940 crore at the end of December to Rs 18,764 crore by the end of March. Agricultural NPA in these banks by March-end was at 16.73 per cent, down from 17.08 per cent. All figures are from the agenda of a meeting of the State Level Bankers Committee in India (SLBC) dated May 19, 2025. The lending structure of cooperative banks is different from that of public-sector banks. While public-sector banks treat each farmer as a single unit for lending, cooperative banks mostly lend through village-level Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS). The PACS sends out the total requirement of loans to the district-level banks and disburse loans to farmers at the individual level. While there can be a host of reasons for the rise in cooperative banks' NPA, Anil Ghanwant, leader of Shetkari Sanghatana, said the pre-poll promise of a complete loan waiver, which continued to resonate even after the elections, is one of them. 'What we need to understand is that the cooperative banking structure has a strong political bias to it. Most political leaders are on the boards of cooperative banks. So when it comes to repayment, there is an indirect go-slow order on the bank officials,' he said. But Vijay Jawandhiya, another farm leader, had a very different take. According to him, the NPA in the cooperative banks rose mostly because the sector lends more proactively than public-sector banks. 'We have to understand that the public-sector banks are wary of lending to farmers. Thus, the increase in NPA is a reflection of lower lending by them,' he said. Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More
New Indian Express
3 days ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Not all farmers need to submit NOC for agri loans: Co-op dept
COIMBATORE: The registrar of Cooperative Societies has sent a circular to all joint registrars of district cooperative societies to follow the procedure implemented in the last financial year for providing crop and cattle maintenance loans from Primary Agricultural Cooperative Societies (PACS) to farmers. As per the circular, not all farmers will be asked to submit an NOC from banks. However, if there is any overlapping of Kisan Credit Card loans by farmers from banks, they will be asked to submit a No Objection Certificate (NOC), said a senior official from the cooperative societies. Earlier, a circular released on May 25 announced that the CIBIL score of farmers would be verified by the PACS upon application for crop loans. Similarly, the circular on June 6 stated that the department had announced that cattle farmers should obtain a third-party declaration from their respective Aavin milk societies or private dairies, based on their milk supply to either private entities or Aavin, for obtaining a cattle maintenance loan of Rs 18,600 from PACS. On July 17, the department again released a circular asking farmers to obtain an NOC from nationalised banks where they had obtained KCC loans. Farmers across TN strongly objected to the new procedures implemented for obtaining loans. They claimed that it would restrict them from obtaining crop and cattle loans from PACS. Meanwhile, registrar of Cooperative Societies, K Nandhakumar, has released a circular on July 28, instructing the joint registrars of each district to follow the procedures implemented last year. Farmers' associations have hailed the department's announcement. Farmers' objection Earlier, on July 17, the department had released a circular asking all state farmers to obtain a NOC from nationalised banks where they had obtained KCC loans. Farmers had strongly objected to the new procedures
Hans India
4 days ago
- Health
- Hans India
Fertiliser stocks reviewed at PACS centres
Adilabad: Joint District Special Officer Harikiran, along with District Collector Rajarshi Shah, reviewed operations at PACS centers across the district, focusing on online payment systems, fertilizer stock levels, and distribution protocols. Officials were directed to ensure adequate fertilizer stocks in PACS and ARSK outlets. It was advised that each shop assess the upcoming four-day requirement based on the average sales from the previous week and take necessary precautions to avoid inconveniencing farmers. He examined fertilizer sales records via e-POS machines using his Aadhaar card, appreciating the PACS staff's efficient and transparent service delivery through the use of technology. Later, he inspected the wards at the Boath Primary Health Centre. Upon inquiring about a child undergoing treatment, he instructed medical officials to immediately provide special care. Following his directives, a 3-year-old child (Sweety) was transferred from Boath CHC to Adilabad RIMS Hospital. District Medical Officer Dr. Narender Rathod reported that essential tests and treatments are being provided in the paediatric ward. He confirmed the child's condition is now stable and she is able to walk. Based on the paediatrician's advice, they are prepared to transfer her to Hyderabad if necessary.
