Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Pema Khandu launched the nationwide mission for promotion of Government e Marketplace (GeM), which is aimed at bringing in more transparency and streamlining the government procurement.
Khandu said the objective of the launch is to accelerate the adoption and use of GeM by the government and their agencies.
Arunachal is the sixth state in India to have signed MoUs with GeM, which aims to bring in transparency, efficiency and inclusiveness in public procurement and achieve cashless, contactless and paperless transaction.
Khandu said the national drive from September 6 to October 15 is aimed at creating awareness about GeM, train the buyers and sellers, get them registered in GeM and increase the procurement through GeM.
The Chief Minister said more than 26,000 govt agencies have been incorporated in GeM including above 1 lakh onboard with more than Rs 10,500 crore transactions having taken place so far in the country, which is a big achievement.
Khandu said the state government has adopted zero tolerance towards corruption and the launch of GeM and the recent reforms on recruitment process is aimed at achieving that.
He said government offices in Arunachal are plagued by corruption mainly in recruitment and procurement process, which diverts enormous amount of the department's time and effort from its core activities.
"It also took toll on wellness and health condition of the employees, as they have to face immense pressure from powerful lobby for giving away undue advantage to them," he said.
With adoption of Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board and GeM, the officers and employees of the government departments will be relieved from recruitment and procurement activity taking away excessive work pressure from them, Khandu said.