• The Union Cabinet cleared a proposal allowing cooperatives to sell products on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM)
• GeM is a one-stop National Public Procurement Portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Central and State Government Departments/Organizations/Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs).
• It was launched in 2016.
• GeM is aimed at enhancing the efficiency, speed and transparency in public procurement of goods and services.
• It also serves the objective of eliminating corruption.
• It is administered by the Ministry of Commerce and Industries under the Directorate General of Supplies and Disposals (DGS&D).
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system-driven e-marketplace that enables the procurement of common use goods and services with a minimal human interface.
• The procurement of goods and services by Ministries and the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) is mandatory for goods and services available on GeM.
• It also provides the tools of e-bidding and reverse e-auction to facilitate the government users achieve the best value for their money.
• At present, GeM has more than 30 lakh products, over Rs. 10 lakh crore worth of transactions have happened so far at the portal.
• Private buyers cannot buy on the platform but private people can sell products to government bodies through the portal.

Model Question :

Q. With reference to the Government-e-Marketplace (GeM), consider the following statements :

1. Government-e-Marketplace (GeM) is a one stop portal to facilitate online procurement of common use Goods and Services.
2. Private people cannot buy on the platform but can sell products to government bodies through the portal.

Which of the statements given above is /are correct?

(a) 1 only

(b) 2 only

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer : C

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