Ahead of International Women’s Day on March 8, the government is going for a major outreach towards women entrepreneurs and plans to give 3000 women access to its e-Marketplace or GeM portal so that they can sell their products, as per a report in the Economic Times.
Women belonging to 150 self-help groups (SHGs) would be integrated with the government’s public finance management system (PFMS), which would facilitate convenient payment for their sales. This will reportedly be done on Saturday, a day before International Women’s Day.
Some of the products that would be incorporated in GeM include paintings, wall hangings, millet, jowar, atta, cloth, jute bags and honey. The Rural Development ministry also plans to unveil an online application system which would help women self-help groups in procuring bank loans online.
Ensuring improved access to bank loans, a woman entrepreneur under the new system would be able to apply for a loan through a mobile app or online system.
The banks will be able to access the applicant details and once a loan gets sanctioned, an SMS alert would be generated. The banks plan to check repayment through this system.
While the GeM would be thrown open to 150 SHGs on Saturday, the Centre plans to extend it to 58.50 lakh such groups covering over 6 crore women entrepreneurs in rural India.
The Centre has already communicated to state governments and appointed one officer under State Rural Livelihood Mission (SRLM) as GeM coordinator to help SHGs with online registration on the e-Marketplace. Common service centres in villages are also being made available to carry out the registration process.