LUCKNOW: Departments that do not make purchases through the
government e-marketplace (GeM) portal will face action, said chief minister
Yogi Adityanath. Additional chief secretary, MSME,
Navneet Sehgal
has been asked to write to all departments that are carrying out purchases through e-tendering, asking them to strictly follow government stipulations on GeM purchases. If they fail to do so, action will be initiated against officials.
Pushing for purchases through the GeM portal to bring about greater transparency in government spending, the CM has said that material and services available on the GeM portal have to be compulsorily purchased from there.
The chief secretary has issued an order to this effect. “This will help the government save money and also ensure quality products and services. Departments not linked with the GeM portal till now have been asked to do so on priority,” said Sehgal.
He added that after a review of GeM purchases, it came to light that some departments and officials are still opting for e-tendering. If they continue to do this, action will be taken against them.
Currently, there are about 45 lakh sellers registered on the GeM portal from across the country. Of these, 3.75 lakh are from UP and more than 70,000 are MSMEs. About 70% purchases, the maximum, equivalent to Rs 1,198 crore, have been made from MSMEs. Currently, 14,294 government purchases are registered on the site. The government through its various departments has made purchases of Rs 22,479 crore from the GeM portal already.