Industry body FICCI and the Ministry of MSME, have decided to organise a series of Buyer-Seller Meets (BSMs) across the country in a bid to connect micro and small enterprises owned by SC/ST entrepreneurs with PSUs and private players in their procurement deals.

To begin with, these BSMs are scheduled to be held in Nagpur and Pune in Maharashtra on January 21 and January 30, 2019, respectively.

Such meets are also proposed to be held in Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Karnataka and West Bengal.

The recent amendment in the Public Procurement Policy has made it mandatory for all Central Ministries and Departments including Central Public Sector Units to ensure 25 per cent of their overall annual procurement from MSEs including sub targets for procurement from the MSEs owned by women and SC/ST entrepreneurs.

Some of the State Governments have adopted the policy and are taking initiatives to help entrepreneurs from the marginalized community in their respective region.   

The BSMs are expected to help the entrepreneurs from the marginalized community get into the supply chain for clinching business deals.

The procurement list ranges from specific requirements of the participating buyers to the areas of common business interest such as gift items, footwear, stationery, industrial tools, furniture, hardware, cleaning products and services like housekeeping, maintenance, security and IT which can be procured by PSUs and private players from the SC/ST vendors.

The buyer-seller meets will also see the active participation of State government departments, institutions like Government e-Marketplace (GeM) and Tribal Cooperation Marketing Development Federation of India ltd (TRIFED).

Besides, FICCI's MoU partner, Centre for the Study of Caste and Capitalism and other Dalit centric associations as well as local partners have also committed themselves towards this initiative.