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Accreditation:

Pilot testing of the revised validation format for

accreditation was conducted at ACSTI,

Lucknow on 17th & 18th July, 2018.

Validation visit for Accreditation and Re-

accreditation of Cooperative Training Institutes

as per the new revised formats were held during

the quarter as below:

o 23rd & 24th July 2018: Re-accreditation of

Institute of Cooperative Management for

Agriculture & Rural Development (ICMARD),

West Bengal

o 9th & 10th August 2018: Accreditation of

Center for Cooperative Management,

Gopalpur – On-Sea, Odisha

Validation Team Members at the Center for

Cooperative Management, Gopalpur – On-Sea

o 13th & 14th August 2018: Re-accreditation

of Apex Bank Training College, Bhopal (ACSTI

of MP StCB)

o 20th & 21st August 2018: Re-accreditation

of Agricultural Cooperative Staff Training

Institute (ACSTI), Jaipur

A newsletter of Centre for Professional Excellence in Cooperatives (C-PEC), BIRD, Lucknow

From the Director’s Desk I am pleased to share the e-newsletter of C-PEC for

the second quarter of Financial Year 2018-19,

highlighting the activities of C-PEC during July to

September 2018.

The enrolments for the 04 certification courses of C-

PEC were completed in the quarter and we have

received an overwhelming response with a total of

607 enrolled candidates, appearing for the

examinations during the current year 2018-19.

The first section of this newsletter highlights

activities take up by C-PEC in this quarter and also

gives a gist of activities planned for future.

The second section of the newsletter discusses the

need, importance & relevance of the scheme of

Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare on

‘Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit

Societies (PACS)’. The scheme will be implemented

in a phased manner in the next three years from

2018-19 to 2020-21. Approximately 63,000

functional PACS will be computerized in these three

years.

I solicit your valuable suggestions and feedback

from all the stakeholders, to make C-PEC, truly a

Centre for Professional Excellence in Cooperatives.

Thanking you!

Smt. T S Raji Gain

What’s new in C-PEC?

Volume III ( I I ), July-September 2018

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o 14th & 15th September 2018: Accreditation

of MDMI (Manpower Development and

Management Institute), Guwahati, Assam

o 17th & 18th September 2018: Re-

accreditation of PICT (Punjab Institute of

Cooperative Training Ltd), Chandigarh

o 19th & 20th September 2018: Re-

accreditation of JLTC (Junior Level Training

Centre) of Punjab State Cooperative

Agricultural Development Bank Ltd.,

Chandigarh

o 24th & 25th September 2018: Re-

accreditation of Academy for Cooperative

Management Research & Training

(ACMART), Kolkata

Examination:

The enrollment process for all the 04

certification courses of C-PEC has been

completed and the study material has been

supplied to all the candidates.

A total of 607 candidates have enrolled for

certification courses of C-PEC in the Financial

Year 2018-19. 401 candidates from 16 states have

applied for Certified Professional in Cooperative

Banking (CPCB) level-I; 78 candidates from 13

states have applied for CPCB Level-II; 100

candidates from 02 states have applied for

Certified PACS Secretary (CPS) and 28

candidates from 10 states have Certified Trainer

for Financial Cooperative (CTFC).

1st Mandatory Contact Class of the certification

course ‘Certified Trainer for Financial

Cooperative’s (CTFC’s)’ covering Module 1:

Training Skills & Module 2: Design & Evaluation

of Training was held from 27 August 2018 to 01

September 2018. Total numbers of participants

in the contact class were 25.

Participants of 1st Contact Class of the certification course

Certified Trainer for Financial Cooperative (CTFC)

Standardization:

C-PEC has approved/ standardized the course

objectives, course contents, day-to-day schedule

and course material of 02 programmes of CTI-

Telangana State Cooperative Apex Bank Ltd.

(TSCAB) viz.

o One day workshop on “Internal Checks and

Control System”

o Two day workshop on “System Based

Auditing of PACS for Departmental

Auditors”.

01 Regional Stakeholder Seminar on

“Professionalization in Cooperatives

Institutions” at Lakhimpur-Kheri has been

successfully organized for the officials of DCCBs

and PACS on 06.07.2018. Officials from DCCBs

& PACS of Sitapur, Lakhimpur-Kheri, Bareilly,

Shahjahanpur, Bahraich and Pilibhit

participated in the seminar. The objective of the

seminar was to disseminate information on C-

PEC’s initiatives to participants DCCBs and also

how C-PEC can support in providing solutions

pertaining to these issues.

Dr. Sudhanshu K. K. Mishra addressing the participants at

the Regional Stakeholder Seminar, Lakhimpur-Kheri

‘Draft Manual’ of Deposit taking PACS in

Mizoram has been completed and submitted.

The manual contains the draft guidelines which

need to be accepted and formalised by the RCS

in Mizoram to strengthen the PACS operations.

This manual also provides a base to PACS for

implementation of Structured Common

Accounting System, Audit, Management

Information System (MIS) and Supervision

System in respect of deposits.

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Training of Trainers (ToT) on “Corporate

Governance in PACS” was conducted during

10th -12th September, 2018 for the Faculty

Members of CTIs. A total of 16 Faculty Members

attended the programme.

Participants of Training of Trainers (TOT) on

‘Corporate Governance in PACS

C-PEC along with Academic section of BIRD

conducted 02 Training Programme on

Corporate Governance viz.:

o Training Programme on Corporate

Governance for CEOs of DCCBs and StCB of

state of Gujarat at Goa during 29th -31st July,

2018.

o Programme on Corporate Governance for BOD of StCB & DCCB’s at ACSTI, Shimla, Himachal Pradesh from 17-19 September 2018.

Publication of Books for Cooperatives &

RRBs: Four books on CRR, SLR, Investment &

Treasury Management for cooperatives and

one book on CRR & SLR for RRBs were

published and put on sale. The names of the

books are as under:

o A comprehensive Guide on CRR & SLR for

Schedule StCBs

o A comprehensive Guide on CRR & SLR for

Non-Schedule StCBs

o A Comprehensive Guide on CRR and SLR for

District Central Co-operative Banks (DCCBs)

o A Comprehensive Guide on CRR and SLR for

Regional Rural Banks (RRB)

o Compendium of RBI & NABARD instructions

on Investment & Treasury Management for

Rural Cooperative Banks

The books are being sold by C-PEC at a discounted

rate to its individual as well as institutional

members.

=

The Second Contact Class of certification

course Certified Trainer for Financial

Cooperatives (CTFC) will be held from 26th

November to 1st December 2018 at BIRD,

Lucknow on Module Design and Evaluation of

Training.

Training-cum-Workshop on Cyber

Security and Information Systems

Policy: C-PEC has been instructed by

NABARD, IDD, HO, to draft a 03 day training-

cum-workshop on ‘Cyber Security and

Information System (IS) Policy in Cooperative

Banks’ for the benefit of the CEOs of StCBs and

IT Nodal Officers of StCBs. C-PEC in near future

might take up the programme once approved.

17th Accreditation Board Meeting for

accreditation/ re-accreditation of CTI’s is

tentatively scheduled to be held on 31st October

2018.

C-PEC has been assigned to organize workshops for Comprehensive Turnaround of weak DCCBs, of C & D category in two years (2018-19 and 2019-20). Weak Banks from 24 state have been identified and we are planning to organize 02 workshops, one at BIRD, Lucknow and second at BIRD, Mangalore in the month of November and December 2018.

C-PEC is planning to announce 02 more

Training of Trainers (ToT) Programme

on Investment and Treasury Management and

Business Development in PACS in month of

November and December 2018.

C-PEC is also planning to organize

Stakeholder Seminar in four States viz.

Assam, Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and

Rajasthan. Dates would be finalized in

consultation with Regional Offices of NABARD.

Consultancy Assignments: C-PEC is in negotiations with Madhya Pradesh State Cooperative Bank for development of training modules & Arunachal Pradesh State Cooperative Bank for holding contact class for CPCB Level-I for enrolled employees.

Two e-learning Modules on Internal Checks & Controls and NPA & Recovery Management are under preparation.

What future beholds?

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1.1 Title of the Scheme – Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS).

1.2 Sponsoring Agency – Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA & FW), Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers Welfare.

1.3 Total Cost of the Proposed Scheme–Rs. 2142.50 Cr

1.4 Proposed duration of the Scheme – The scheme would be implemented in a phased manner in the next three years from 2018-19 to 2020-21.

The year wise phasing for the computerization of 63,000 functional PACS is tabulated below.

Year Total No of PACS to be computerized

Year II 2018-19 13,000 Year III 2019-20 20,000 Year IV 2020-21 30,000 Handholding support of 3 years has been provided in the project. Hand holding support for the PACS which are migrated in the 3rd year of the project will continue upto 2022-23.

Total 63,000

The baseline data on PACS available with the DCCBs and the Co-operation Department of the respective states will be the reference point for benchmarking the outcome.

C-PEC participants on study visit to Anurakala PACS,

Chinhat, Lucknow,UP

1.5. Computerization of PACS- Background

As per the census 2011 data, there are 6,40,867 villages in India out of which 5,97,608 are inhabited. Considering the number of PACS i.e., 92,789 PACS, which works out to roughly one PACS per seven villages. The societies have,

therefore, a wider spread and reach in rural India than the Commercial Banks and Regional Rural Banks. The Cooperative Credit Structure moreover has almost double the number of rural outlets (47,445 as on Sep 2016, RBI data) and more clients.

PACS are the bottom-tier of the Short Term Cooperative Credit Structure (STCCS) (Two-tier and Three-tier structure) functioning in the rural areas. These PACS are owned by farmers and promote thrift and mutual help among the members, catering to their credit/non-credit services. The services include input supply, storage and marketing of agricultural produce etc. They also participate in Government sponsored citizen/farmer welfare services such as procurement of food grains, Public Distribution System (PDS), distribution of agri-inputs etc.

In this process, a PACS engages itself in a wide range of businesses such as sale of Fertilizer, seed and pesticides, running of Ration Shops (PDS), credit products, saving products, thrift, micro credit, super market, custom hiring of farm equipment, provision of storage for agricultural produce and other allied business.

The members of PACS typically belong to villages around PACS and surrounding areas. The work of Co-operative societies is limited to its identified village and the loans are extended to the members. The loans are provided for medium and short-term purposes.

As per the NAFSCOB data, there are 92,789 PACS in India as on 31 March 2015. PACS have been classified as viable, potentially viable, dormant and defunct based on their financial position. As per the classification, a potentially viable PACS would move to viable category within reasonable period of time. However, dormant PACS have some chance of revival and defunct PACS have no chances of revival. As per the NAFSCOB data, out of the total functional PACS, 67,016 are viable, 19,929 are potentially viable, 2,821 are dormant, 1,590 are defunct and 1,433 PACS belong to others. Hence, 86,945 or approximately 87,000 PACS can be taken up for computerization. It is prudent to take up the 67,000 viable PACS for computerization in the initial phase. However, PACS computerization has been initiated by few States. Therefore, estimated 63,000 viable PACS which are yet to be computerized are proposed to be taken up for computerization.

These societies predominantly take care of the agricultural credit requirement, farming services

Section II

Theme: Computerization of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS)

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etc. of the vulnerable sections of the farmers, particularly, the small and marginal farmers and other weaker sections.

1.6. Problems faced by PACS and Why computerization?

i. Inadequacies and inaccuracies of the book-

keeping. Inability to have standard book

keeping practices resulting in fraud and

embezzlement cases.

ii. Lack of standard reporting to District Central

Cooperative Bank (DCCB)/Apex Bank. In

absence of authentic book keeping practices,

the reports generated for policy making are

mostly inadequate.

iii. Information as required by other institutions

from the societies is in non-standard format

hence are time consuming and cumbersome.

iv. Inability to do multiple businesses different

from basic activities which otherwise can

enhance profitability of the societies.

v. Difficult to maintain the Stock inventory

manually for fertilizers, seeds, pesticides,

food grains, etc.

vi. Lack of transparency and accountability.

1.7. Improving business of PACS through computerization

Information Technology (IT) could be a facilitator to address the problems as stated above and also may help achieve the following:

i. Digitization of manual data/transactions ii. Ensure application of standard business

process and practices; iii. Increase efficiency and thus reduce

inherent delays; iv. Efficient use of Ru-Pay Kisan Cards

issued by banks; v. Timely PMFBY data upload;

vi. Facilitate in integrating wide range of services;

vii. Bring transparency and accountability; viii. Support in establishing MIS for

governance; ix. Monitor, determine and prevent leakages

and imbalances in the system; x. Enhanced ability to maintain error free

stock inventory at PACS level.

The financial world has already embraced the technological revolution and is reaping the benefits in terms of greater customer satisfaction, numerous business channels, customer retention, customized products, credit history etc. Hence, adoption of technology is no longer a matter of choice. If this tier

of the STCCS does not take the opportunity, it may lead to drastic reduction of their business as Regional Rural Banks (RRBs), Payment Banks and Small Finance Banks, Postal Bank etc., are increasingly looking to tap into the customer base of PACS. It is critical that the lowest tier of the STCCS embraces Information Technology (IT), as any reform in the structure must be necessarily initiated at the base to reach the farmers.

1.8. The computerization of PACS: Policy Issues

Policy readiness of the Cooperatives and PACS to computerization:

a) Since DCCBs/StCBs are legally a bank under BR Act whereas PACS are a society and integrating systems of a society with the system of a bank may have policy issues.

b) Specifications readiness c) State level IT Policy d) Security issues

1.9. The computerization of PACS: Operational Issues:

1. Sensitization of : a) The users of the PACS services. b) Secretary and data entry operators at PACS

level which have an average age of 50+ years and hesitant in using new technology.

2. Site readiness – Standard configurations and non-technical parameters.

3. Human resource readiness - Capacity building of the Society Secretary and Data Entry Operator at the society level. It is always found that PACS are out of staff or one PACS secretary is looking after more than one PACS. If employees are available they are not able to operate computers so before computerization we must ensure there must be proper number of skilled staff. Skill set required to handle computer are:-

Basic understanding of computers; which includes introduction to computers, working knowledge on MS-Office, especially in WORD and Excel, internet handling and basic connectivity issues, power issues and the issues comes during the operation period of computers like loose connection etc.-this training can be provided by the different training institutes available at nearby locations.

Operational knowledge of PACS software- This training is provided by the software vendor which requires the hand holding

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support till the day book generation/trial balance generation.

4. Data readiness to facilitate computerization, data purification and migration audit, whether the data formats are defined by specific authority?

5. Security issues and backup, safety of data, whether software is suited to day to day activities which is inclined towards non-credit activity.

6. Business continuity Plan including-technical, proper system audit, Vulnerability assessment & penetration system [VAPT] and Financial [first year assistance and thereafter provisions for AMC/salary of extension agencies, computer operator/SMS alert system etc.

1.10. PACS identification criteria for computerization, the identified PACS should be functional. Functional PACS are defined as:

PACS doing agri-credit business PACS having its own or rented Pucca premises The PACS should be managed by Paid Secretary

Taking the above definition into account the following conditions may be laid down for prioritization of PACS

PACS should have disbursed agri-credit during

2016-17

Availability of telecom data network

The State government will ensure supply of

power to the selected PACS, in case the PACS are

not having electricity supply.

The audit of PACS should have been completed

upto 2015-16.

The StCB will form implementation cell with IT

qualified manpower.

The DCCB should have necessary IT manpower

to implement the project.

PACS would strive to employ local computer

literate person to ensure smooth operations.

1.11. Outcomes & Way Forward: The outcome of the project is computerization of 63,000 functional PACS across the country.

i. The scheme envisages computerization of the activities undertaken by the PACS mainly focusing on Agriculture and allied activities related to credit/non-credit business.

ii. The process will include digitization of existing manual data.

iii. It will also include supply of necessary computer hardware, software, connectivity, etc. The software will be installed in these PACS and training on the software will be provided to the users.

iv. Post this, each of the PACS will have handholding support in cluster mode for 3 years i.e. for the first year, one support person for 12 PACS and for 2nd & 3rd year one support person for a cluster of 24 PACS. Some DCCB staff will additionally be trained as master trainers to take responsibility for hand holding of PACS in their area.

v. Setting up of National core data center where all data is available for various usage. All data will be available at the end of previous day. The data would be used to generate Management Information System (MIS) at PACS, DCCB, State and National Levels, which would serve the institutions at various levels.

vi. To bring these PACS on a uniform platform, for Common Accounting System (CAS), MIS etc., independent of the nature of software being used by the PACS.

vii. Once implemented, the scheme will be beneficial for the farmers across the country as they will be able to avail the benefits of PACS computerization in the form of faster credit scrutiny, appraisal and disbursement, RuPay card transaction etc.

(The article represents the future road map for

Computerization of PACS as expressed by Ministry of

Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (MoA & FW),

Department of Agriculture, Cooperation and Farmers

Welfare (Credit Division), Government of India in its

Circular F. No. 6-14/2015-Credit-I (Vol-II). Further, the

article was refined by Dr. Sudhanshu K. K. Mishra,

DGM, BIRD in light of the discussions held over Video

Conference with CTI’s: ICM, Trivandrum; RICM,

Bangalore; ACSTI, Lucknow; ACSTI, Bhubaneswar &

CTI, Telangana)

Chief Editor: Smt T. S. Raji Gain; Editor: Shri. Raj Kumar, Joint Director; Editorial Board: Team C-PEC

Disclaimer: The information contained in this newsletter is for general information purposes only. While we endeavor to keep the

information up to date and correct, we make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness,

accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the newsletter or the information, products, services, or related graphics

contained on the website for any purpose.

Contact us: C-PEC, BIRD, Sector-H, LDA Colony, Kanpur Road, Lucknow – 226012 Uttar Pradesh, India.

Ph. + 91-522-2421799 Email: cpecforccs@gmail.com, bird@nabard.org, Website: www.bird-cpec.org