New Delhi [India], April 24 : The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) has been actively driving its "Womaniya" initiative since its launch in 2019, in a bid to promote gender-inclusive economic growth and empower women entrepreneurs.
The initiative aims to encourage the participation of women entrepreneurs and Self Help Groups (SHGs) from the informal sector in public procurement through the GeM portal, facilitating direct sales to various government buyers without intermediaries.
Under the "Womaniya" initiative, generic product categories have been created to ease product catalogue listing and procurement for various items including handicrafts, handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, bamboo products, organic foods, spices, home decor, and office furnishings.
This initiative aligns with the government's target of allocating 3 per cent of public procurement to women-owned and led Micro and Small Enterprises (MSEs).
PK Singh, CEO of GeM, highlighted the initiative's aim to address the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in accessing markets, finance, and value-addition opportunities.
He emphasized GeM's commitment to social inclusion and its role in integrating local value chains through initiatives like "Vocal for Local" and "Make in India" for a self-reliant India.
He said, "The "Womaniya" initiative seeks to address the triple challenge of "access to markets", "access to finance" and "access to value-addition" faced by women entrepreneurs and strives to align the untapped entrepreneurial energy of last-mile producers and service-providers in India with local Government buyers."
To promote the "Womaniya" initiative, GeM has introduced various measures including dedicated product categories, GeM Outlet Stores, marketplace filters to distinguish products made by women entrepreneurs and SC/ST entrepreneurs, market icons for easy identification of products made exclusively by "Womaniya", and a new service vertical called "Stitching and Tailoring Services" to provide market opportunities for women seamstresses.
GeM has also partnered with organizations like the Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) and Usha Silai School to train and enable women-led enterprises in public procurement.
These collaborations aim to provide support to last-mile stakeholders such as Local Bodies, Cooperative Societies, and Panchayati Raj institutions, among others.
SEWA Gitanjali, a cooperative promoted by SEWA, has been able to register and list its upcycled/recycled stationary products on GeM, providing sustainable livelihoods to women from the informal sector.
Similarly, Ishta Creation, founded by Neena Narayan, has introduced hygienic toilet seat covers for public washrooms, with support from GeM, ensuring proper hygiene for women.
Neena Narayan expressed her gratitude for GeM's support, emphasizing its handholding and technical assistance throughout the process.
Narayan said, "GeM provides great handholding and technical support - right from creation to onboarding to trademark application to Vendor Assessment. It offers trust and transparency of transactions and last-mile sales support. Through GeM portal, our disposable car seat covers are being used in Emergency Response Support System vehicles in Uttar Pradesh. GeM provides great support to women entrepreneurs like me to move forward with faith."
Aarushi Rajpal Kalra, Director of Datalink Industrial Corporation, highlighted her firm's commitment to "Make in India" and its participation in the "Womaniya" initiative.