The Union Ministry for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare has launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal.

Possible prelim question:

‘The Saras Collection’ recently seen in news is a:

a) Subsidy on beekeeping and apiculture projects

b) Indigenous light transport aircraft

c) Database on wetland birds

d) Collection of products made by SHGs

 The Saras Collection

• It is a unique initiative by the GeM, Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM) and Ministry of Rural Development.
• The 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.
• The on-boarding of the SHGs has been initially piloted in the states of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
• SHGs from all the states and Union Territories (UTs) will be covered rapidly in the upcoming phases.

It’s functioning

• For Functionaries: They will be provided dashboards at the national, state, district and block level for real-time information about the number of products uploaded, their value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.
• Government buyers: They will be sensitized through system-generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about the availability of SHG products on the portal.

Benefits offered

• The Saras Collection will provide SHGs with direct access to Government buyers which will do away with intermediaries in the supply chain.
• Thus it would ensure better prices for SHGs and spurring employment opportunities at the local level.

Back2Basics: Government e-Marketplace

• The GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments / Organizations / PSUs.
• It was launched in 2016 to bring transparency and efficiency in the government buying process.
• GEM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-marketplace that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface.
• It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users to achieve the best value for their money.
• The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorized and made mandatory by the Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017.
• It has been developed by Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (Ministry of Commerce and Industry) with technical support of National e-governance Division (MEITy).

Get an IAS/IPS ranker as your 1: 1 personal mentor for UPSC 2024

Attend Now