Enabling Digital Inclusion for Women-Owned Collectives: Recommendations for the GeM Portal draws on the experiences of SEWA-supported cooperatives and collective enterprises engaging with India’s Government e-Marketplace (GeM) platform. The note highlights the opportunities that public procurement presents for women-owned enterprises while identifying practical barriers related to registration, pricing, digital accessibility, vendor verification, product categorisation, and transparency.
Based on grassroots experiences from women’s cooperatives across sectors, it offers a set of policy recommendations to make GeM more inclusive, accessible, and responsive to the realities of informal women workers. The note argues that strengthening digital public procurement systems can play an important role in expanding market access, enhancing women’s economic participation, and supporting the growth of collective enterprises.
