Assam: NABARD holds workshop on grain storage plan in Hojai
What happened
NABARD organised a stakeholders' workshop on the World's Largest Grain Storage Plan under the Cooperative Sector (WLGSP-Coops) at Jugijan Samabai Samity Ltd in Hojai, Assam. The programme was attended by officials from NCDC, FCI, Assam State Warehouse Corporation, and PACS representatives. Launched by the Ministry of Cooperation, the scheme targets decentralised grain storage infrastructure including godowns, custom hiring centres, and processing units through convergence with existing government schemes to reduce food grain wastage and distress sales.
Why it matters
The World's Largest Grain Storage Plan under the Cooperative Sector is a flagship initiative of the Ministry of Cooperation, conceived to address India's chronic shortage of decentralised food grain storage capacity at the village level. India loses significant quantities of grain annually due to inadequate storage — estimates suggest losses worth thousands of crores. The plan proposes creating storage and agri-infrastructure directly through Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), which are the grassroots cooperative units, ensuring last-mile connectivity.
What makes this scheme structurally significant is its convergence model. Rather than creating a standalone programme, WLGSP-Coops draws funds and mandates from at least 8 existing central schemes — including PM-KISAN, Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF), and RKVY — channelled through PACS. NABARD's role is critical here: it functions as the implementation support agency, providing technical assistance, capacity building, and credit facilitation to PACS.
The Hojai workshop reflects NABARD's district-level outreach strategy — sensitising cooperative societies, state departments, NCDC, and FCI simultaneously. Kapashbari Samabai Samity has already been identified for a pilot godown, demonstrating how state-level cooperative registrars and NABARD district managers co-ordinate ground-level selection. For NABARD Grade A aspirants, this topic sits at the intersection of cooperative credit, agricultural infrastructure, food security policy, and NABARD's development banking mandate.
What makes this scheme structurally significant is its convergence model. Rather than creating a standalone programme, WLGSP-Coops draws funds and mandates from at least 8 existing central schemes — including PM-KISAN, Agricultural Infrastructure Fund (AIF), and RKVY — channelled through PACS. NABARD's role is critical here: it functions as the implementation support agency, providing technical assistance, capacity building, and credit facilitation to PACS.
The Hojai workshop reflects NABARD's district-level outreach strategy — sensitising cooperative societies, state departments, NCDC, and FCI simultaneously. Kapashbari Samabai Samity has already been identified for a pilot godown, demonstrating how state-level cooperative registrars and NABARD district managers co-ordinate ground-level selection. For NABARD Grade A aspirants, this topic sits at the intersection of cooperative credit, agricultural infrastructure, food security policy, and NABARD's development banking mandate.
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