NEWS BRIEFS Government to provide enhanced market ac- cess to weavers and ar- tisans Over 28,300 artisans & 1,49,422 weavers registered on the GeM Portal Artisans & Weavers gaining greater Market access thorough GeM Initiative to provide direct market access opportunities to approx. 35.22 lakh handloom workers and 27 lakh handicraft artisans In a move to provide enhanced mar- ket access to weavers and artisans, a drive has been initiated to onboard Weavers and artisans on the GeM portal so as to enable them sell their products directly to the Govt. Depart- ments. This will increase participation from under-served seller groups such as artisans, weavers, micro entrepre- neurs, women, tribal entrepreneurs and self-help groups working in Handloom and Handicrafts, who face challenges in accessing government markets. Till 30th August, 2021, 28,374 arti- sans and 1,49,422 weavers are reg- istered on the portal.GeM initiated the seller registration and onboarding of weavers and artisans in July 2020 with the assistance of officials from Office of Development Commissioner Handloom and Development Commis- sioner Handicrafts. Officers from 56 Handicraft Service Centres and 28 Weaver Service Centres were trained and engaged in the seller registration process. 28 exclusive product categories have been created for handloom products. Simultaneously 170 custom product categories created for handicraft prod- ucts. Dedicated web-banners and market pages have been developed for Indian Handloom (https:// g e m . g o v. i n / l a n d i n g / l a n d i n g / india_handloom) and Indian Handi- crafts (https://gem.gov.in/india-handi- craft) products to showcase high-qual- ity handicraft and handloom productsJamawar is one of the most exquisite fabrics of J&K. ‘Jama’ means shawl or robe, and ‘War’ means yard. Handwoven Jamawar shawls are consid- ered to be pieces of art. (Below: Taking India’s local handloom global!) made by artisans, weavers, cooperative societies, SHGs and producer com- panies capable of supplying such products to various Government buyers. The move will help promote handloom and handicraft products with govern- ment buyers, empower weavers and artisans to sell their products directly to Govt. buyers sans intermediaries and reinforce the spirit of #MyHandloomMyPride, #VocalForLocal and Make in India, towards ensuring an “Atmanirbhar Bharat”. About Government e Marketplace (GeM) Based on recommendations of the Group of Secretaries, the government decided to set up a dedicated e market for different goods & services pro- cured by Govt. Organisations/Departments/PSUs. DGS&D is thus transformed to a digital ecommerce portal for procurement & selling of goods & services. GeM, created in a record time of 5 months, facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Govt Depts/Organisations/ PSUs. GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement. It provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the govt. users achieve the best value for their money. The purchases through GeM by Government users have been authorised and made mandatory by Ministry of Finance by adding a new Rule No. 149 in the General Financial Rules, 2017. NCM-OCTOBER 2021 72