Bhubaneswar: Odisha’s Minister of Cooperation, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts, Pradeep Bal Samant, on Friday launched the IT Skill Enhancement Training Programme (OS-CIT) for Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS) and Large-sized Agricultural Multi-Purpose Cooperative Societies (LAMPCS) officials across the state.
The programme was formally inaugurated at the State Convention Centre, Lok Seva Bhawan, with PACS/LAMPCS officials joining virtually from their respective Authorized Learning Centres across Odisha.
The training is being implemented by Odisha Knowledge Corporation Limited (OKCL) in collaboration with the state’s Cooperation Department, and aims to make Odisha’s cooperative sector more modern, technology-driven, transparent and self-reliant.
Under the programme, 5,422 officials from 2,711 PACS/LAMPCS across the state will be trained, with two officials enrolled from each institution. Registration has been completed, and formal training commenced the same day, delivered through 540 OKCL-authorized learning centres to ensure officials can train close to their respective areas.
The initiative comes as the Cooperation Department undertakes several digital transformation measures, including the National Level PACS Software (NLPS)/ERP-based digitisation of PACS, computerisation of Registrar of Cooperative Societies offices, and digitisation of cooperative records.
The OS-CIT training is designed to equip officials with basic computer knowledge, digital work processes, and IT skills to make cooperative institutions’ functioning faster and more transparent. The curriculum also includes a dedicated module on NLPS ERP to familiarise officials with the ERP environment they will use going forward.
With 5,422 officials from 2,711 PACS/LAMPCS covered, officials described the programme as the first initiative of its scale undertaken by any state in India, adding that its successful implementation could serve as a replicable model for similar digital skill enhancement programmes in other states.
The launch event was attended by Commissioner-cum-Secretary of the Cooperation Department Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Registrar of Cooperative Societies Manish Agarwal, Additional Registrar of Cooperative Societies Bhaktabandhu Sahu, and OKCL Managing Director Dr Manoranjan Puthal, along with senior officials from various departments.
Summing up the initiative’s vision, officials said it aims to move “from technology to efficiency, from efficiency to empowerment, and from empowered cooperatives to empowered farmers.”
