Parul
In wake of the International women’s day, the Indian government has initiated to help 3000 women entrepreneurs from micro, small and medium sector (MSME) to sell their products on state-run ecommerce portal government e-marketplace (GeM).
According to reports, the government will start showcasing the products created by the 3 thousand women entrepreneurs on the GeM website from March 7, 2020. This would include products like envelopes, paintings, wall hangings, file covers, coarse grains, millets, jowar, cloth, jute bags, honey and more.
Eventually, the government will be extending these services to 58.50 Lakh self-help groups across the country, which comprise of 6 crore women entrepreneurs in rural India.
The centre has already written to state governments and designated one officer as a GeM coordinator as well, who will help women entrepreneurs register online. The government has also taken steps to facilitate registration at common service centres in villages.
Ecommerce logistics startup Shiprocket, in a study of about 1900 online sellers found out that outside the top marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart, women sellers largely from micro sales on social commerce sites account for one-fourth of the overall online retails.
As per reports, the government has decided to empower 15 self-help groups (SHG) with the government’s public finance management system (PFMS) to ensure easy payments for the sales. In fact, an online application system will be set up to help women’s self-help groups in getting bank loans.
It has been reported that the government is trying to ensure improved access to bank loans for the self-help groups. A senior official has quoted, ‘once the app is launched, women entrepreneurs will be able to apply for loans using the app or an online system. The system has already been integrated with banking infrastructure so that banks have access to the applicants’ details.’
The official also quoted that further, once the loan is approved, the women entrepreneurs will be notified through an SMS Alert. The entrepreneurs will only be required to visit the bank once the loan has been approved. The banks will be able to monitor repayments through this system.
