GeM signed with KIHT at EduTech
Visakhapatnam: Government e-Market Place (GeM) signed a MoU, here at the second day of EduTech-2018 international conference on Friday, with Kalam Institute of Health Technology (KIHT), paving way for making KIHT the Technical Secretariat for public procurement of medical devices. This is a boon for the healthcare system in the country, as the complex world of medical devices has always posed a challenge to the Government agencies, who are mostly dependent on the inputs of the user and industry on framing procurement policies for their organisations.
The MoU was signed between both the organisations which had an august audience of Dr. Jitendar Kumar Sharma, Executive Director, KIHT and Radha Chauhan, CEO GeM, Dr. Poonam Malakondaiah, Member of Governing Body of KIHT and Suresh Kumar, Additional CEO of GeM.
This MoU sets into motion a significant step for procurement since KIHT which has a pool of medical technology experts, could aid in providing the right content of prescribing the standards and specifications for listing in GeM portal, which would drastically cut down the procurement time and provide a reliable base of quality parameters for such procurement in a cost-effective manner.
The KIHT is a premier organisation supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, which has been pathbreaking to support government policies undertaking in the area of medical technology. The GeM, the national portal for public procurement set up by the Department of Commerce, is an online market platform that seeks to remove entry barriers for bonafide sellers and has created a vibrant e-marketplace covering a wide range of goods and services.
The association of KIHT in public procurement for medical devices removes a huge barrier in the country’s trade in medical devices, as KIHT expertise would ensure that all healthcare agencies across all the States have a uniform set of parameters for procurement and this would bring down the cost of procurement, apart from suppressing the vested interest lobby in the sector.