About GeM 

• Launched in 2016, the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) is a 100 percent government-owned company setup under the aegis of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
• It is a completely paperless, cashless and system driven e-market place that enables procurement of common use goods and services with minimal human interface. GeM aims to enhance transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement.
• GeM was developed with the technical support of the National eGovernance Division under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology.

• In 2017, the government made it mandatory for all the departments and ministries to source goods and services from the GeM.

Why in News?

• A function was held to commemorate the success of “SWAYATT”, an initiative to promote Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions on Government eMarketplace (GeM) in New Delhi.
• The initiative to promote “Start-ups, Women and Youth Advantage Through eTransactions” (SWAYATT) on GeM was first launched in February 2019.
• The intent of SWAYATT was to promote inclusiveness of various categories of sellers and service providers on the portal, by taking proactive steps to facilitate their training and registrations of such specific category of manufacturers and sellers, develop women entrepreneurship and encourage participation of MSME sector and Start-ups in public procurement.

Reference:

https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1903442