Lucknow, Jan 20 : The Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh has managed to check corruption within the government by mandating that all purchases by its departments and their subordinate institutions be made through the GeM portal. The process has reflected the transparency and has eliminated the human interface in the purchases, thereby, naturally diminishing the chances of corruption. According to the government spokesman, the departmental purchases through the GeM portal in the state was Rs 602 crore in the financial year 2017-18 and it increased to Rs 1,674 crore in 2018-19. In the financial year 2019-20, it was Rs 2,401 crore and in this current financial year 20-21, a total of Rs 2,500 crore has been purchased till December. In this way, the departments have made purchases worth Rs 7,177 crore from the GeM portal in the last four years. Navneet Sehgal, additional chief secretary, MSME, said, "The Chief Minister's policy of zero tolerance for corruption is crystal clear. The government is committed to end corruption completely and its efforts are also being appreciated at the national level." The Indian Industries Association (IIA) also feels that the GeM portal is very beneficial for the government and entrepreneurs. Pankaj Gupta, chairman of IIA, said, "Bringing transparency in government departmental procurement and thus ending corruption is also exemplary for other states. The aim of the government was that the MSMEs get the right rates without any corruption and the right people participate." The MSME department has been made the nodal department and it has formed a Project Management Unit (PMU) team of GeM portal. The Central government has also honoured the state government with the Best Buyer Award in 2018 and Super Buyer Award in 2019. At present, Uttar Pradesh is the first state to make maximum purchases through the GeM portal at the national level. Besides products, manpower outsourcing, taxi and cleaning services are also being taken from the GeM portal from many departments and the portal has a wide range of diverse goods and services with suppliers and vendors. GeM is a Government e-Marketplace that was started with an objective to transform the legacy procurement system in India. Over 70,000 vendors are registered on this portal. Being a one-stop portal, it facilitates the online procurement of common goods and services required by various government departments, organisations, and PSUs. /IANS