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DAILY NEWS ANALYSIS

GS-II :
  • 05 May, 2020

  • 5 Min Read

“The Saras collection” on Gem portal

“The Saras collection” on Gem portal

Part of: GS-II- Rural development (PT-MAINS-PERSONALITY TEST)

Union Minister of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portal.

Imp Points

  • The Saras Collection showcases daily utility products made by rural self-help groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.
  • It is a unique initiative of GeM and the Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM).
  • Under this initiative, the SHG sellers will be able to list their products in 5 product categories, namely handicrafts, handloom and textiles, office accessories, grocery and pantry and personal care and hygiene.
  • The Rural Development Ministry said that in the first phase, 913 SHGs from 11 States have already registered as sellers and 442 products have been on-boarded.
  • GeM will provide dashboards for functionaries at the national, state, district and block level to provide them real time information about the number of products uploaded by SHGs, and value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.

In addition, Government Potential buyers will be able to search, view, cart and procure such products through the stipulated modes of procurement. By providing SHGs with direct access to Government buyers, the Saras Collection will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain and will ensure better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level.

Government e-Marketplace (GeM)

  • GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Central and State Government Departments / Organizations /Public Sector Undertakings ( PSUs).
  • It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process.
  • It operates under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
  • The procurement of goods and services by Ministries and the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is mandatory for goods and services available on GeM.
  • It also provides the tools of e-bidding and reverse e-auction to facilitate the government users achieve the best value for their money.
  • At present, GeM has more than 15 lakh products, around 20,000 services, and more than 40,000 Government buyer organizations.

DAY-NRLM

The chief features of the scheme are as follows:

  • Universal social mobilisation: A minimum of one lady member of a rural poor household (with particular emphasis on the marginal sections) is to be brought in the network of an SHG.
  • Participatory Identification of Poor
  • Community Funds as Resources in Perpetuity: this is to strengthen the financial management capacity of the poor
  • Financial inclusion
  • Livelihoods: the mission focuses on promoting and stabilising the existing livelihood structures of the poor through its three pillars:
    • Vulnerability reduction & Livelihoods enhancement – through expanding existing livelihoods and tapping new livelihood opportunities in both the farm and non-farm sectors
    • Employment – building skills
    • Enterprises – promoting self-employment
  • Another important feature of this scheme is that it places a high priority to convergence and partnerships with other government schemes of the Rural Development Ministry. It also seeks to have linkages with the Panchayati Raj institutions.

Source: PIB


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