GeM plans to procure products from village-level entrepreneurs
New Delhi: In a move aimed at promoting village-level entrepreneurs, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has decided to procure products directly from artisans as well as manufacturers based in rural areas to meet the requirements of different government departments.
To make it happen, the GeM has roped in India Post and Common Service Centre (CSC) to provide last-mile logistics and training support for seamless procurement from buyers and sellers of remote locations.
While talking to Millennium Post, GeM CEO PK Singh said that the government is working towards making a self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat) and it cannot be accomplished without taking rural India on board.
"As India Post has its presence in every corner of the country, the local manufacturers can sell their products through GeM from any remote location. The Postal Department will help in timely delivery of the product and CSC executives would facilitate last-mile seller or buyer in vendor registration at GeM portal," said Singh, who is a 1993-batch IAS officer of Manipur cadre.
"Since village-based entrepreneurs or individuals have the limited production capacity, they can form a group of manufacturers and start selling their products through the GeM portal," Sing said, adding that GeM is also in talks with Panchayati Raj institutions to start procurement of goods from the GeM portal. As per the MoU document, over 4.5 lakh CSC and about 1.5 lakh India Post offices will be trained to help last-mile government buyers, sellers and service providers. The CSC would facilitate buyer/seller registration, product catalogue upload and management, order acceptance, fulfilment and invoice generation functionality on the GeM portal.
Commenting on the development, Ajay Kumar Roy — CGM, Parcel Directorate, said, "India Post will help in timely delivery of products to last-mile stakeholders such as local bodies, Panchayati Raj institutions, women self-help groups, khadi and tribal entrepreneurs, micro, small enterprises, farmer producer organisations, etc in rural areas. The department will also provide logistics support to GeM in delivery of products to colleges, scientific and technical research institutions, etc."
