What is “Womaniya” initiative?

The Government e Marketplace (GeM) has launched a new initiative called “Womaniya on GeM” to empower women entrepreneurs and women self-help groups (WSHGs) to sell their products directly to various government ministries, departments, and institutions. The initiative aims to develop women entrepreneurship on the margins of society to achieve gender-inclusive economic growth.It will spur hyper-local economic opportunities for women entrepreneurs and address the goals and objectives of United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5..

Womaniya on Government e Marketplace: Empowering Women Entrepreneurs and WSHGs:

The CEO of GeM, S Radha Chauhan, has released a video to highlight the essence and benefits of the Womaniya initiative. The Womaniya initiative is particularly important because nearly 80% of women-owned establishments are self-financed and more than 60% of 8 million units are owned and or led by women entrepreneurs from socially-challenged sections of the society.

The Face of Womaniya on GeM

The initiative is represented by artist Anukta M Ghosh’s artwork “Magan”, an illustration of women empowerment and grace. The Womaniya homepage 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. Products like handicrafts and handloom, accessories, jute and coir products, home décor, and office furnishings are categorized for ease-in-procurement.

Aligning with Government’s Initiative for MSMEs

The initiative aligns with the government’s initiatives for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), especially to reserve 3% in government procurement from women entrepreneurs. This aligns with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.

Opportunities in E-Commerce

India has approximately 500 million internet users, and nearly 54% of them are more than 25 years of age with higher discretionary income and likely to transact more online. Half of internet users reside in small towns, presenting new opportunities for e-commerce. Most importantly, women constitute 33% or 143 million internet users and control 44% of household spending in India.

About Government e Marketplace

The CEO of GeM is S Radha Chauhan. GeM is a 100% government-owned company set up under the aegis of Ministry of Commerce and Industry for procurement of common use goods and services by government ministries, departments, and CPSEs. GeM was set up in 2016 and 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 crores in gross merchandise value.

Category: Government Schemes Current Affairs