India
Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his visit to Tamil Nadu's Madurai on Sunday met Mudra entrepreneur Arulmozhi Saravanan, whose thermos flasks were ordered by PM Office through Government e-Marketplace.
Madurai: Days after the Union government launched the Mudra Yojan for small entrepreneurs to receive loans without security, Mudra entrepreneur Arulmozhi Saravanan applied and obtained a Mudra loan for her business - which was to supply simple goods and products to government offices.
Arulmozhi heard of the Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and registered on it back in 2017. While browsing the GeM site, she noticed that the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) was interested in purchasing a few thermos flasks which she could supply. As she responded on the site, the PMO confirmed the order. The containers were provided, and the payment made.
Technology had empowered Mudra entrepreneur Arulmozhi from Madurai, to notice a requirement that the PMO Office had. She matched it against what she could supply, and complete the sale. PM Modi had also mentioned it on Mann Ki Baat in mid-2017.
After that, by supplying products to various offices, her business grew. Recently, Arulmozhi wrote to PM Modi, informing him of the updates in her business and the transformation in her life. In her letters, Arulmozhi would call Modi as her father.
In her series of letters, Arulmozhi explained how once she used firewood for cooking, and now she can use a gas cylinder. The turnover of her business has crossed Rs 1 crore in the current financial year.
All this began with an order of Rs 234 on GeM. She later realised that the PM would be visiting Madurai on January 27, and decided to meet him.
According to Arulmozhi, her experience using GeM make her believe that it is an excellent platform for government offices to save public money. She described GeM as a service to the nation and is not just a means to a business.
She also said that doing business has become even easier after GST implementation. From Mudra to GeM to GST - Arulmozhi became a role model of how government's reforms are working on the ground, to ease people's life.
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