‘Womaniya on GeM’ launched to enable women entrepreneurs to sell directly to govt bodies

Womaniya on GeM’, an initiative to enable women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, home décor and office furnishings directly to government ministries, departments and institutions, has been launched by Government e Marketplace (GeM).  The move seeks to boost women entrepreneurship to achieve gender-inclusive economic growth, according to an official release.

Womaniya on GeM will spur hyper-local economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs and address goals and objectives under United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls, said the release.

In a presentation, Radha Chauhan, CEO, GeM, said that nearly 80 percent women-owned establishments are self-financed and more than 60 percent of eight million units from socially-challenged sections of the society are owned and/or led by women entrepreneurs. She added, “Since women tend to invest up to 90 percent of their earnings back in their families to provide better nutrition, healthcare and education to their children, economic empowerment of women is a step in the direction of poverty alleviation.”

The Womaniya homepage [https://gem.gov.in/womaniya] will inform procurement officers in various government ministries, departments and CPSEs about the drive to promote procurement of common use goods and services from women entrepreneurs. The release added that the Womaniya initiative aligns with the government’s initiatives for MSMEs, especially the three percent reservation in government procurement from women entrepreneurs.

GeM was launched in September 2018 with the aim to promote all sections of entrepreneurs, including MSMEs and startups. Commerce and Industry Minister Suresh Prabhu had said the aim of the mission is to promote inclusiveness by empowering various categories of sellers and service providers such as MSMEs, startups, domestic manufacturers, women entrepreneurs and self-help groups.

The minister had said that in the next three years, the GeM transactions will reach $100 billion. It has 731,431 product categories, with 180,862 registered sellers and 32,114 government buyers. Since inception, GeM has processed 1,171,761 orders worth Rs. 16,976 crore in gross merchandise value.