Page 17 - Mann Ki Baat English

Steps are also taken for GeM to ARULMOZHI SARAVANAN, Madurai, Arulmozhi grew up in a small village It was through perseverance and
integrate with Panchayati Raj Tamil Nadu- The lady who sells near Usilampatti town in Madurai determination that she not only delivered
Institutions to allow online buying goods to Prime Minister district. She could not continue her her initial orders but also expanded the list
and selling by the Panchayats at Not every success story begins with a studies beyond Class 12, because of products she offered. Armed with a
dream. Some arise out of circumstances feasibility report, she approached a bank for
the grassroots level. ‘GeM SAHAY’ her family could not afford to send
and the need to achieve a better standard a loan of Rs 50,000 under the Central
is another initiative to facilitate her to college. She got married at
of living. Government’s Mudra Yojana Scheme. She
small sellers to avail credit financing the age of 19. Soon after, she
Arulmozhi Saravanan from Madurai in Tamil then used the fresh funds to source
from various integrated lenders for Nadu is one such story. Beginning an online became a mother of a boy and the products from wholesale markets and
the orders received on GeM. business with a single order of Rs. 243, she family settled in Madurai town. Two would plough back the profits into the
now handles multiple orders worth lakhs. years after her daughter was born, fledgling venture.
The portal also provides Persons
Her story of grit and determination is so Arulmozhi enrolled in a training
with disabilities/ Divyangjan with inspiring that even the Prime Minister has Arulmozhi uploads the details of products
course but did not look for work as on the site, sources supplies and has
market access to Government mentioned about her in his ‘Mann Ki Baat’
she felt she could not do justice to employed five members of her family to
address.
buyers where they can showcase
her children if she got a job. help her. She supervises the entire process,
their finely crafted products. As
right from procurement and packing to
GeM grows with the increasing She was scouting for opportunities
delivery and has dispatched orders to far
to supplement her family income
number of Public Procurements, flung areas of the country including Leh.
without having to venture outside
the efficiency is bound to Some years ago, she saw a requirement for
for work. That’s when she heard
increase due to more thermos flasks from the PMO worth Rs 1,600.
about GeM. She registered on GeM She sent a “thank you” note to the Prime
transparency, visibility, and ease
to supply office products. She Minister along with the order where she
of doing business. The Portal is set
pawned her jewellery for Rs 40,000, explained how government schemes like
to become the one-stop shop
and slowly and steadily started to GeM and Mudra Yojana had helped her to
National Procurement Portal. And be financially independent and
buy the products. She waited
it is further solidifying the dream supplement her family income.
patiently for two months before she
of ‘AatmaNirbhar Bharat’ by
received her first order. The Prime Minister has often cited Arulmozhi
making indigenously developed
as an example of how a woman can
products easily available on the empower herself if she puts her mind to it.
country's largest e-marketplace.
Arulmozhi says “when the Prime Minister
came to lay the foundation stone for AIIMS in
Madurai, he called me directly and
complimented me. So I now have the desire
to achieve more. Right now, I am only buying
items and selling them on GEM. My goal is to
Scan this QR code to know
manufacture my own products and sell
how GeM is writing new
them on the portal."
success stories.
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