A paddy field in Phek district. (Morung Photo)
Kohima, February 8 (MExN): The National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Nagaland Regional Office, Dimapur stated that Nagaland has a two-tier cooperative credit structure.
This was stated in the State Focus Paper for the year 2026-27, which was recently released in Kohima.
The Nagaland State Cooperative Bank Ltd. (NStCB) is at the apex level with 4203 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) affiliated with it.
The bank has the second largest banking network in the state with the presence of 23 branches.
NStCB plays an important role in agricultural credit disbursement as it accounts for about 9.54% of the total agricultural loans disbursed in the State for Financial Year 2023-24.
Nagaland has a total of 8133 cooperative societies across various sectors reflecting the diversity of its cooperative movement.
Of these, 2160 societies are functional actively contributing to the socio-economic development of the state while 5973 remain non functional or dormant.
Additionally, 3 societies are currently under the liquidation process.
The states cooperative sector encompasses a wide range of activities including Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), dairy, fisheries, handloom, handicrafts, livestock and poultry and agro processing, among others. These cooperatives play a critical role in supporting rural livelihoods and promoting self-reliance in the community
The State has identified in the process of computerizing 231 Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperatives under the project of PACS computerization over a period of 5 years.
Phase 1: Computerization of 33 PACS (hardware delivered and ERP onboarding started).
Phase 2: 198 PACS for Computerization. Hardware includes computers, printers, scanners, biometric devices, and networking equipment for digital transformation.
The State Focus Paper stated that the implementation of M-PACS in Nagaland covers 17 districts with a total target of 382 units.
So far, 117 units have shown interest, 70 are in the documentation process, 62 have been submitted to the Registrar of Cooperative Societies (RCS), and 32 have been registered. Districts like Phek, Meluri, and Kiphire have demonstrated strong progress, while Dimapur has no assigned target.
Continued efforts in social mobilization and timely documentation are crucial to achieving the overall target, the State Focus Paper stated.
