Quality of Products & Services on GeM should never be compromised : Goyal

Speed Post News Network

New Delhi : Union  Commerce & Industry and Railways MInister  Piyush Goyal, along with Minister of State of Commerce and Industry, Som Parkash, inaugurated the 3^rd edition of National Public Procurement Conclave in New Delhi on December 5, 2019. The two-day conclave has been organised by Government e-Marketplace (GeM) in association with Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

GeM epitomises the speed, skill and scale, which is essential in an e-marketplace platform, said Piyush Goyal in his inaugural address. He further said that GeM rests on the three pillars of openness, fairness, and inclusiveness and is a symbol of a truly transparent e-marketplace.

Goyal hoped that during this conclave a roadmap for the future of GeM will be put in place that will unify all government procurement across all Ministries and Departments of not only Government of India but State Governments and local bodies. He also hoped that during the two-day deliberations an actionable agenda will emerge that will facilitate work contracts in the form of tenders to be made available on the GeM portal in future. He said that to take the GeM portal to the next level, it may be examined how to facilitate purchase from the GeM platform by contractors and sub-contractors of public sector undertakings, Ministries and Departments, according to a PIB release.

The Commerce and Industry Minister hoped that the target of Rs 5 lakh crore business through the GeM platform is achieved earlier than five years and in the future GeM will also be open for the citizens of India to procure their necessities so that the common man may benefit from lower cost of products and services that are available on GeM. However, he cautioned that quality of products and services must never be compromised and stringent mechanism be put in place for validation of complaints against poor quality of products and services that may be available on the platform.

Goyal welcomed all suggestions from thousands of registered organisations for the two-day conclave to make improvements in the GeM platform particularly in the process of accessing, onboarding, and navigating through the platform.

Sixty-two stalls ranging from IT, electronic items, road safety equipment, security, furniture items, sports goods, health care, telecom, GIS solutions, home appliances, and freight services have been put up for the participants and visitors to see during the two-day event. Talleen Kumar, CEO, GeM, and other senior officials of GeM and Department of Commerce were present on this occasion.

GeM awards were also given away during the inaugural session. Awards were given to Central Ministries, States and PSUs in categories of super buyer, rising buyer, and most compliant buyer (payments). Sellers were also awarded under super seller, seller with most orders, super seller (MSME), seller with most orders (MSME) and most promising startup categories.