Products by tribal can be procured from GeM portal

Government departments, agencies and public sector units can now procure products made by tribal communities from the GeM portal as it has added over 4,000 such items, including paintings, handmade showpieces and statues.

The commerce ministry launched Government e-Marketplace (GeM), an online platform for public procurement, in August 2016 with the objective of creating an open and transparent procurement platform for the government.

As many as 1,000 self help groups (SHGs) too have registered on the platform with over 500 products in categories such as handicraft, handloom and textiles, office accessories, grocery and pantry and personal care and hygiene.

"Tribal Cooperative Marketing Development Federation of India (TRIFED) has uploaded 4,316 products across 48 different categories - paintings, handmade showpieces and statues, handcrafted hand bags and sling bags and more such products are being added," GeM CEO Talleen Kumar said.

He said these steps are aimed at promoting inclusiveness at the platform.

Earlier this month, he said, an initiative - SARAS - was launched for SHGs, under which they will be able to list their products at the portal.

"Under the initiative, the onboarding of SHGs was piloted in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The scope has been rapidly expanded to 20 states/ UTs," Kumar added.

GeM, he said, has also taken the initiative to onboard a large number of artisans, craftsmen and weavers registered with office of DC (development commissioner), Handicraft and Handlooms, Ministry of Textiles.

"The strategy for onboarding of nearly 21 lakh weavers and 17.98 lakh craftsmen has been put in place in consultation with the Ministry of Textiles," he said adding efforts are also underway to onboard as many of the 92 lakh MSMEs registered in the Udyog Aadhaar Memorandum database as possible.

Currently, government departments, ministries, public sector units, state governments, and Central Armed Police Forces are allowed to carry out transactions through this portal.

The portal provides a wide range of products from office stationery to vehicles. Automobiles, computers and office furniture are currently the top product categories. Services, including transportation, logistics, waste management, web casting and analytical, are listed on the portal.