Recently 5 States and a Union Territory (UT) formally adopted the Centre’s initiative called the Government e-Marketplace (GeM).
What is GeM?
The Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D) has developed the GeM.
It is a completely end to end procurement system for purchase of goods and services of common use by the government buyers.
GeM aims to ensure that public procurement of goods and services in India worth more than Rs. 5 lakh crore annually is carried out through the online platform.
It promotes transparency eliminates corruption.
A call centre for GeM has also been set up to help both buyers and sellers in conducting their transactions on GeM.
What are the impacts?
GeM relieves public offices from tedious and time consuming tendering process and thus cuts down on administrative and transaction costs.
It will help in online registration of suppliers and government buyers using self certification and authentication through Aadhar, PAN, MCA21 and Biometric Attendance System.
It will also facilitate seamless process flow and standardised specifications with complete audit trail.
