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The first H.P. Cooperative Societies Act, enacted in 1956. Prior to this, Cooperative Societies were registered under the Cooperative Societies Registration Act, 1912. With the reorganization of Himachal Pradesh State in 1966, four more hilly districts namely, Kangra, Kullu, Lahual Spiti and Shimla were formed. Simultaneously on 1st September, 1972 two more districts viz Hamirpur and Una were created out of Kangra District and Solan also named as a district dropping Mahasu District. Reorganization of the State paved the way to enact H.P. Cooperative Societies Act 1968, as most of the Societies in the new merged area were of unlimited liabilities as such H.P. Cooperative Societies Rules, 1971 were also framed by the Government for strengthening the Cooperative movement in the State. Himachal Pradesh’s cooperative sector has shown remarkable progress, with a total of 5099 registered cooperative societies. Sector-wise report show that there are 2,203 Primary Agricultural Credit Societies (PACS), 467 societies in Dairy, 73 in Fishery, and 389 Primary Marketing Cooperative Societies. PACS have the highest number of members (13,51,437) among all the sectors and act as a backbone of the cooperative network, providing vital financial services, credit support, and investment avenues to the rural population. In the span 1951-1970, a spike can be seen in the registration of PACS. 3712 PACS have been registered in this span which makes around 61% of the total PACS existing today. The widespread presence of PACS contributes to agricultural development, ensuring timely access to credit and other resources for farmers. Kangra district is prominent district as it has highest societies (1,009) and highest members (5,18,113). There are 4,287 functional societies, 607 non-functional societies and 205 societies are under liquidation. Himachal Pradesh has achieved an impressive milestone with PACS covering 99.67% of the gram panchayat in the State. This widespread presence ensures that financial services and support are accessible to the majority of rural areas, contributing to financial inclusion and rural development. It is a rural sector dominant state having 4,362 out of 5,009 societies in rural areas.
