Women self help groups in Kota stitch face masks on mission mode amid coronavirus outbreak

Facing a surge in demand for face masks amid the outbreak of COVID-19, women self-help groups (SHGs) in Kota have supplied more than 51,000 masks to frontline workers and public alike in the last few weeks fetching them a handsome sum of money.

Under the aegis of the Deendayal Antyodaya Yojana – National Urban Livelihood Mission (DAY–NULM) and the Kota Municipal Corporation (KMC), 39 women SHG members have earned over Rs 5 lakh by dispatching 51,200 masks so far.

They have received bumper orders for 62,000 more masks, officials said.

DAY-NULM is a government scheme that aims to reduce poverty and vulnerability of the urban poor households by enabling them to access gainful self-employment and skilled wage employment opportunities.

As per data available online on mask making by DAY-NULM SHGs till Friday, Kota district is at the top in the state with more than 50,000 masks with Jhunjhunu district in distant second with 10,000 masks followed by Dungarpur district with 9,000 masks.

Impressed by the performance of the women SHGs in Kota, Director and Ex–officio Joint Secretary, Local Self Government, Ujjwal Rathore, had issued a letter on Thursday to commissioners/executive officers of all local bodies of the state directing them to get SHGs of DAY–NULM engaged in making masks in the wake of rising requirement for the same.

At the centre of this record number of face masks is Dr Hemlata Gandhi, social development manager of DAY-NULM at KMC.

"We never presumed that a small effort by a few members of SHGs would fetch them such big orders and revenue," Gandhi said.

On March 18, a week before the nationwide lockdown was imposed, she uploaded a video on the SHG Whatsapp group - Nari Shakti - on a mask making competition.

A small number of masks were made for the competition which were sold out very soon and more importantly provided good income in the hands of the SHG members, she said.

Encouraged by the response, the SHG members expressed keen interest in making more such masks.

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Later on March 21, Gandhi uploaded another video of ready-made masks on a Facebook page and orders started flooding in within hours.

Gandhi then sought guidelines for standards of face masks from the Health department and instructed the SHG members to tailor 18 X 8 cm, three-layered cotton masks but getting the necessary cloth and other materials for stitching the masks proved to be difficult.

When Gandhi took up the issue with KMC Commissioner Vasudev Malawat, he took special efforts to procure the materials from a shop in Indira Market in the city.

"Kota District Collector Om Kasera and Commissioner Vasudev Malawat extended huge support and cooperation to make it possible for SHGs to make the face masks even in the lockdown," Gandhi pointed out.

"Currently, 39 women of 11 SHG groups of NULM are employed in making masks and they have made nearly 52,000 face masks out of which 51,200 masks that were ordered have been delivered generating an income of over Rs 5 lakh to them," she further said.

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A single piece of elastic stringed mask costs Rs 8 while a mask with thread string is priced at Rs 10.

These SHG members, who were otherwise deprived of earning money from daily labour due to the lockdown, are now getting Rs 300-400 per day by making masks, the NULM manager said.

The current demand is for 62,000 masks and they have been receiving orders from other districts also but unavailability of transportation during the lockdown is a hurdle in delivering the masks, Gandhi said.

Amid the spread of COVID-19, special emphasis is being laid on social distancing while making the masks and each member of the SHG is making masks individually at their home and the prepared masks are collected at their home.

With the success of selling face masks, the SHGs are now gearing up to stitch personal protective equipment (PPE) uniforms and full face masks for frontline medical staff.

Besides, the women have been deployed in other creative online competitions at their respective homes that include 'making best out of waste' and gardening and videos on promoting sanitisation, personal hygiene, frequent hand washing have also been uploaded online, Gandhi said.