Odisha plans to establish more than 100 new cooperative societies in Ganjam.

The Odisha government has decided to open 82 new primary agriculture cooperative societies (PACS), 21 primary milk cooperative societies, and to make five PACS multi-purpose societies in Ganjam district. This decision was made at the Ganjam district cooperative development committee meeting chaired by district collector Dibyajyoti Parida at Chhatarpur. The collector has instructed cooperative officials to prepare feasibility reports for the new PACS in panchayats without any existing PACS. Currently, out of 503 panchayats in the district, PACS are operational in 421 panchayats. Last year, 21 new PACS were opened, as stated by Biswaranjan Das, deputy registrar of the cooperative societies (DRCS), Ganjam.

55 primary milk cooperative societies are currently functioning under the Greater Ganjam-Gajapati Milk Cooperative Union. According to the decision of the Central government, each uncovered gram panchayat will have a PACS or a primary dairy or fishery cooperative to create employment opportunities. This initiative aims to help farmers secure better prices for their products and expand their markets, as explained by the DRCS.

Furthermore, five PACS in the district have been identified to be developed as multi-purpose cooperative societies. The purpose of the multi-purpose cooperative societies is to diversify the business activities of the PACS and make them vibrant economic entities at the panchayat level. "We will further study their potential before recommending the government to upgrade them as multi-purpose societies," said Das. The PACS at Dakhinapur, Kukudakhandi Bipulingi, Bada Baranga, and Dharakote will be upgraded as multi-purpose societies.

The PACS will engage in various business activities including dairy and fishery, establishment of godowns, procurement of food grains, and sale of fertilizers, seeds, LPG, petrol, and diesel. Additionally, the societies will set up common service centers, fair-price shops, etc.