The Meghalaya Cabinet on Thursday (January 30, 2025) approved the establishment of a women-led apex financial cooperative society aimed at strengthening the financial ecosystem for self-help groups (SHGs) across the State.
The initiative to set up the Pla Tangka Cooperative Society (PTCS), led by the Department of Community and Rural Development (C&RD) in partnership with the Centre for Research in Schemes and Policies (CRISP), is expected to revolutionise rural financial inclusion and build economic resilience in the State.
“Since 2018, the financial ecosystem surrounding the SHGs in Meghalaya has seen a remarkable transformation. The PTCS will be a game-changer for rural economic development with the capital available through the SHG network having grown from ₹40 crores in 2018 to more than ₹1,000 crores today,” Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma told journalists after the Cabinet meeting in Shillong.
He said the PTCS had been envisaged to ensure easy and direct access to funds, eliminating the need for SHGs to go through lengthy and complex processes to apply for loans from commercial or cooperative banks. “This model will act as a financial intermediary, specifically designed for SHGs, making credit readily available and fostering entrepreneurship at the grassroots level,” Mr. Sangma said.
Meghalaya is the fourth State after Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana to institutionalise the cooperative model. The decision was a follow-up of a proposal to make the women members of SHGs financially independent.
Sampath Kumar, Principal Secretary and Development Commissioner, C&RD Department, who presented the PTCS idea before the Cabinet, said the name of the society was derived from ‘pla’, a Khasi word for bag, and ‘tangka’, a Garo word for funds or money, translating into a ‘bag full of money’.
“The PTCS has been registered under the Meghalaya Cooperative Societies Act, 2015 and is inspired by the Stree Nidhi Model of Telangana,” he said.
The initiative aligns with Meghalaya’s $1 billion SHG Unicorn Vision, which aims to eliminate multidimensional poverty by ensuring every family in the State earns at least ₹1 lakh additional income per year through multiple livelihood activities. The government aims to expand the SHG network to 80,000 groups by 2028, unlocking ₹8,000 crore in enhanced capital and contributing $1 billion to Meghalaya’s economy by 2032.
