The growth of co-operative segments in Maharashtra

The availability credit facility is the major challenges in every business. Specifically, it is very crucial in agriculture. The return from agriculture is not guaranteed so as it become neglected from various a credit source. At the same time a large proportion of population remains engaged in agriculture and without credits the cultivations would not begin. This picture underlined the importance of credit facility. Since long in India, there were credit facilities which have supplied to agriculture through the money lenders, relatives, friends and landlords. Under the British rule , there was a passed the Co-operatives Societies Act-1904; after that the co-operative movement started very swiftly in the Maharashtra. In addition, the state of Maharashtra implemented three-tire co-operative credit society structure for distributing credit facilities to farmers as well as needy peoples. It is proud to say that co-operative credit system saved the farmers from unorganized credit sector. In Maharashtra, earlier people were dependent upon sahwkhar, relatives, traders and moneylenders for credit. The state has accepted three-tier system of co-operative credit societies. At the top the State Co-operative Banks (StCBs), at the middle District Co-operative Credit Societies (DCCS) and the bottom level Primary Agriculture Credit Societies and ensured that this dependence no longer exists. The Maharashtra Government has always encouraged the growth of Primary Agricultural Credit Societies through State Co-operative Banks and National Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development (NABARD). Co-operative banking plays a very important role in the rural credit system. They have extended almost 70% credits out of the total rural credit. During the period of 1978-79, there were 18,686 total Primary Agricultural credit societies working across the State. The total Membership of was PACS was 51.30 lakh and they have extended credit Rs.161 crore.
This research papers revels the progress of co-operative credit structure in the state of Maharashtra