Abstract
Agriculture is one of the most important sectors in the country as more than 55 percent of total workforce in India is engaged in the sector. Since the formulation of Indian Cooperative Societies Act in 1912, cooperative sector plays a major role in delivering credit to the masses. One of the main players of Rural Short-Term Cooperative Credit System (RSTCC) in the country as well as in Mizoram is Primary Agricultural Credit Cooperative Societies (PACS). The paper examines the structure and financial performance of 25 sample PACS using certain structure and financial parameters like – villages covered, membership, employment generation, working capital, total business, capital structure, CD ratio, debt-equity ratio, return on investment etc. And to draw inferences, statistical tools like CAGR, t-value of curve estimation, ratios and Pearson Correlation were used. While the village coverage is low, membership base has increased significantly. The sample PACS were able to utilise its membership base to increase its share capital. However, credit-deposit ratio and capital structure of the sample PACS do not have significant relationship on return on investment.
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