The National Level Coordination Committee (NLCC) for the world’s largest grain storage plan held its inaugural meeting on Monday at the Ministry of Cooperation in New Delhi. The World’s largest grain storage plan envisages to transform PACS into Multi-Service Societies. The pilot project has already been implemented in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Assam, Tripura, Uttarakhand, and Telangana.
The meeting was attended by Dr. Ashish Kumar Bhutani, Secretary of the Ministry of Cooperation, along with the Secretaries of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare, Food and Public Distribution, and Food Processing Industries, as well as the Managing Director of the National Cooperative Development Corporation (NCDC). Representatives from the Food Corporation of India (FCI), the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority (WDRA), and other key stakeholders also participated.
Review of progress made:
The committee reviewed the progress of the pilot project, which began last year in 11 states. The plan involves creating various agricultural infrastructures at the PACS level, including warehouses, custom hiring centers, processing units, and Fair Price Shops. This will be achieved through the convergence of several existing government schemes, such as the Agriculture Infrastructure Fund (AIF), Agricultural Marketing Infrastructure Scheme (AMI), Sub Mission on Agricultural Mechanization (SMAM), and the Pradhan Mantri Formalization of Micro Food Processing Enterprises Scheme (PMFME).
Dr. Bhutani emphasized the significance of this project, describing it as one of the most ambitious initiatives undertaken by the Government of India. The goal is to establish decentralized warehouses to support a nationwide rollout of the plan.
Pilot project implemented by NCDC
The pilot project is being implemented by the NCDC with support from NABARD, FCI, the Central Warehousing Corporation (CWC), and NABARD Consultancy Services (NABCONS), in coordination with the respective states and union territories. The pilot is also being expanded to include 500 additional PACS with the support of state governments, the National Cooperative Consumers Federation (NCCF), the National Buildings Construction Corporation (NBCC), and other organizations.
National and state-level cooperative federations, such as NCCF and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED), have identified additional PACS for the development of storage capacity and other agricultural infrastructure under the project.
Scaling the plan nationwide
The committee members also discussed strategies for scaling the plan nationwide, including potential linkages of storage facilities with various stakeholders.
