NEW DELHI: The public procurement portal GeM is taking a host of steps to onboard products of self-help groups (SHGs), tribal communities, craftsmen, weavers, and MSMEs with a view to making the platform more inclusive, a senior government official said on Monday.
The team of Government e-marketplace (GeM) is in consultation with the ministry of textiles to pull data of 21 lakh weavers and 18 lakh craftsmen for onboarding on the platform.
Similarly, they are in discussions witwith the and MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) ministry to onboard 92 lakh such units, GeM Chief Executive Officer Talleen Kumar said.
"The vision expounded by the Prime Minister for GeM is to drive the three pillars of inclusivity; efficiency with attendant cost savings; and transparency along with more and more usability. This is reflective of an appetite to reimagine the status quo and usher in structural reforms through technology.
"The GeM platform is an example of how digital platforms created with a strategic, clear-minded intent to reinvigorate and reimagine legacy processes can bring about lasting change for the nation and for the underserved," Kumar told .
He said so far as inclusivity on the platform is concerned, about 49 per cent of the orders worth Rs 10,000 or less have been supplied by 25,000 sellers in 2019-2020.o, over 1,000 SHGs have been registered through paperless, automatic and instant integration with the database of the Ministry of Rural Development and over 700 products have been uploaded. Similarly, over 5,000 products have been uploaded across 48 different categories by the Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation (TRIFED).
Besides different government departments and agencies, schools such as Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti hav ..Besides different government departments and agencies, schools such as Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Kendriya Vidyalaya and Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti have purchased goods worth Rs 535 crore so far.
Kumar informed the share of MSMEs, women entrepreneurs and startups in all procurement in 2019-20 has shot up to 69 per cent.
Citing a report of the World Bank, Kumar said 238 sellers, who have responded to a questionnaire, expressed a positive perception about GeM for trust and transparency.
