Tatsat Chronicle Magazine

More than 28,300 artisans and 1,49,422 weavers register on GeM portal

September 21, 2021
gem

To provide enhanced market access to local weavers and artisans, a drive has been initiated to onboard weavers and artisans on the Government e-Market (GeM) portal. The drive will enable them to sell their products directly to government departments. This will increase participation from under-served seller groups such as artisans, weavers, micro-entrepreneurs, women, tribal entrepreneurs and self-help groups working in handloom and handicrafts, who face challenges in accessing government markets.

Till August 30, 2021, 28,374 artisans and 1,49,422 weavers had registered on the portal. GeM started the registration and onboarding of weavers and artisans in July 2020 with the assistance of officials from the Office of Development Commissioner Handloom and Development Commissioner Handicrafts.

Officers from 56 handicraft service centres and 28 weaver service centres were trained and engaged in the seller registration process. an official statement from the Ministry of Textiles said.

A total of 28 exclusive product categories have been created for handloom products besides 170 custom product categories for handicraft products.

Two separate market pages have been developed for Indian handloom (https://gem.gov.in/landing/landing/india_handloom) and handicrafts (https://gem.gov.in/india-handicraft) products to showcase high-quality handicraft and handloom products made by artisans, weavers, cooperative societies, SHGs and producer companies capable of supplying such products to various government buyers.

The initiative is expected to help promote handloom and handicraft products with government buyers, empower weavers and artisans by selling their products directly to government buyers.