A study on growth and performance of Primary Agricultural Cooperative Credit Societies of West Bengal

Abstract

India’s economy is heavily reliant on agriculture as a developing economy. However, due to the lack of financing from the banking sector, farmers and agriculturists have a lot of difficulties in their farming activities. This is where the Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), the cooperative sector’s lowest tier institution, comes into play. The current study uses secondary data to examine the overall performance of PACS in West Bengal between 2002-03 and 2018-19. To examine and better comprehend the data and interpretations, various statistical tools and techniques such as percentage analysis, compound annual growth rate, and tri-year average are utilized. The findings show that the number of viable PACS was declined dramatically during the reference period, and the PACS’ performance was also deteriorated. Overdue accounts, a lack of resources, an indifferent management system, a lack of effort to mobilize deposits, and unskilled employees are only a few of PACS’s key problems. As a result, executives must take responsibility for debt collection. The board of directors, as well as the members, should participate more actively in general body meetings and assist PACS in its operation. Executives must be more honest in their commercial dealings so that all members of society are informed of what is going on.