Marketplace (GeM), ‘Bengal by the Himalayas’, Cotton procurement through MSP
1. Virtual program "NGMA KE SANGRAH SE"
- National Gallery of Modern Art proudly presents the virtual program “NGMA KE SANGRAH SE”.
- The theme for this week is ARTIST BY ARTISTS and is dedicated to Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore.
- This week’s program coincides with the maestro’s 159th birth anniversary on 7th May 2020, a date we would like to celebrate.
- Shared permanent collections virtually to commemorate International Days such as International Women’s Day, International Dance Day and International Workers Day.
- “The closure of Museum galleries due to COVID 19 Lockdown did not dampen our spirits and couldn’t disconnect us with our audiences. Rather, this has presented us a new opportunity to get connected in an exciting way with a wider world audience through web and social media supported by the internet. All endeavours are being received really well by the community and we are hoping to serve the same way in the coming future.”
2. Blood donation saves lives
- “Blood donation saves lives, let’s raise awareness for blood donation & ensure that the needy have timely & affordable access to safe and quality blood.
- “Saving life of others is a service to the mankind.” In short, it is ‘Manav seva ke saath swasthya ki suraksha’”.
- “Indian Red Cross Society is an voluntary humanitarian organization having a network of over 1100 branches throughout the country, providing relief in times of disasters/emergencies and promotes health & care of the vulnerable people and communities.” “With their type of network we would surely be able to sustain the supply of blood even in testing time of COVID-19 outbreak,”
3. “The Saras Collection” on the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) portal
- The Union Minister for Rural Development and Panchayati Raj and Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Shri Narendra Singh Tomar, launched “The Saras Collection” on the Government e Marketplace (GeM) portalat Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi.
- A unique initiative of GeM and the DeenDayalAntyodaya Yojana-National Rural Livelihoods Mission (DAY-NRLM), Ministry of Rural Development, the Saras Collection showcases daily utility products made by rural self-help groups (SHGs) and aims to provide SHGs in rural areas with market access to Central and State Government buyers.
- Under this initiative, the SHG sellers will be able to list their products in 5 product categories, namely (i) handicrafts,
(ii) handloom and textiles,(iii) office accessories,
(iv) grocery and pantry, and
(v) personal care and hygiene.
- In the first phase, 913 SHGs from 11 States have already registered as sellers and 442 products have been on-boarded.
- In order to develop a scalable model capable of onboarding a large number of SHGs across the country in a short time frame, GeM has developed an API based integration mechanism with the NRLM database.
- However, GeM will provide dashboards for functionaries at the national, state, district and block level to provide them real time information about the number of products uploaded by SHGs, and value and volume of orders received and fulfilled.
- In addition, Government buyers shall be sensitized through system generated messages/ alerts in the Marketplace about availability of SHG products on the portal.
- The on-boarding of the SHGs under the initiative has been initially piloted in the States of Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Himachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.
About DAY-NRLM: DAY-NLRM aims to reduce poverty through promotion of diversified and gainful self-employment while creating skilled wage employment opportunities. The scheme supports building social capital and ensuring financial linkages to alleviate poverty and enhance the quality of the life of rural poor women. It has ambitious plans on innovations for alternate channels of financial inclusion like digital finance, creating value chains around rural products and improving market access, rural enterprise and strengthening community institutions.
About GeM: Government e Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent Government owned Section 8 Company set up as the National Public Procurement Portal for procurement of goods and services required by Central and State Government organizations. GeM provides an online, end to end solution for procurement of goods and services for all Central Government and State Government Ministries, Departments, Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs), local bodies and autonomous organisations. The platform reduces human interventions in procurement and enables transparency, cost savings, inclusiveness and efficiency of faceless standardized public procurement.
4. Cotton procurement through MSP
- The Ministry of Textiles reassures the farmers that the Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) along with its agent the Maharashtra State Cotton Growers’ Marketing Federation Ltd. is well geared and ready to implement the MSP operations of the Government of India in the State of Maharashtra.
- MSP procurement is on in Maharashtra since October, 2019. As on 25th March,2020 Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) had already procured 91.90 lakh quintals of Kapas equivalent to 18.66 lakh bales of cotton valuing Rs.4995 crores from cotton farmers in Maharashtra through 83 centres.
- Out of this outstanding Kapas, it is estimated that around 40 to 50 % of Kapas valuing approx. Rs. 2100 crore may be of FAQ grade and growers may wish to avail of MSP rates due to traders not offering better price in view of the pandemic situation.
- The MSP operations are continuing and CCI’s procurement is on at 34 centres currently and a total of 36,500 quintals of Kapas equivalent to 6900 bales have been procured in Maharashtra during lockdown period.
- The procurement is regulated by the state APMCs and 27 centres are coming under red zones as identified by the District administration wherein procurement is expected to pick up after 3rd May,2020. In remaining 22 centresthe State Government has been approached by the CCI for issue of passes/tokens to farmers to bring Kapas and the matter is being constantly monitored by the Ministry of Textiles through daily status reports on arrival of farmers &Kapas procurement in the APMCs.
Steps have been taken by the CCI to clear the outstanding payment to the farmers for the procured Kapas. Out of total procurement value of Rs.4995 crores, a sum of Rs.4987 crores has already reached the farmers.
5. ‘Bengal by the Himalayas’ on the rich heritage of Darjeeling under Dekho Apna Desh Webinar Series
- Indian Himalayas themselves are a complete destination which can be explored around the year for variety of experiences.
- 73% of Himalayan range lies in India.
- Himalayas provide opportunity for a round-the-year tourism in India , right from hard adventure to soft adventure, rich flora and fauna to bio-diversity hotspots, high altitude peaks to beautiful lakes, from varied culture to the realm of spirituality and wellness.
- The Ministry of Tourism, under the Swadesh Darshan scheme is developing thematic circuits in the country in planned and prioritized manner.
- The Himalayan Circuit is one such identified theme under this scheme.
- In a historic step towards promoting adventure tourism in the country the Government of India opened 100 new peaks for mountaineering in the year 2019.
Tag:Cotton procurement, GeM, Himalayas, Marketplace, MSP
