With masks vanishing from shops following the COVID-19 alert, women in Odisha’s Cuttack district have come forward to manufacture masks and make buyers in rural pockets aware about the importance of staying sanitised.
As many as 150 women in two blocks of Cuttack are stitching over 5,000 mask per day. These masks are sold at ₹10 per piece and can be sterilized at home.
“While manufacturing the masks, we ensure the place is completely disinfected and women themselves are wearing masks. We have so far supplied 1,2000 pieces. Three women self-help groups are involved in the manufacturing of the masks,” said Rina Moharana of Maa Mangala Producer Group.
“We had mooted the idea of manufacturing precautionary masks when rising cases of swine flu had triggered panic. Now, after COVID-19 has been declared a pandemic, women who are part of self-help groups have started manufacturing the masks, which are in great demand,” said Bipin Rout, Deputy Chief Executive of Odisha Rural Development and Marketing Society (ORMAS).
Although the masks being stitched by the women SHGs do not meet medical standards, they are very handy compared with handkerchiefs used by people to cover their nose and mouth, said Mr. Rout.
“Apart from manufacturing masks, the women groups also regularly sensitise the people coming to buy them,” he said.
The ORMAS has provided training and machinery, while women SHGs are involved in stitching the masks.
