Kudumbashree steps in to meet masks shortage

MALAPPURAM: Kudumbashree, one of Asia’s biggest Self Help Groups (SHG), produced 125,000 cotton masks to meet the acute shortage of masks faced by the health professionals engaged in the fight against COVID-19.

The reusable and washable cotton masks were produced by 46 units of Kudumbashree in the district. Around 50,000 masks have been sent to various parts of the state, including hospitals and voluntary organizations.

Around 25,000 masks were given to SAT hospital in state capital Trivandrum.

Kudumbashree district coordinator CK Hemalatha said the double-layered masks are priced at Rs15/piece and triple-layered masks for medical staff are priced at Rs20/piece.

The prices were fixed after discussions with government and the organisations that sought the masks.

“We stopped manufacturing temporarily and it will resume within days. We are experiencing difficulty in transporting masks to organizations and hospitals in state due to the lockdown and hence we stopped production. We are looking at alternate arrangements to distribute the masks,” she said.

In Kozhikode, the 94 bag manufacturing units under Kudumbashree with around 700 workers have completely shifted to manufacturing of surgical cloth masks. The cloth bag units were launched to cater to the demand for cloth bags when plastic carry bags were banned in the state. But when COVID-19 struck the units immediately switched to manufacturing of masks.

“We have a capacity to make up to 35,000 masks a day. But, there is a shortage of enough cloth. So we have not been able to meet the demand,” said TK Prakashan, Kudumbashree Project Officer of the Kozhikode Corporation.

The non-availability of surgical quality cotton cloth has become a major hurdle for manufactures.

At present, the units are manufacturing around 5,000 masks daily. The masks are handed over to the District Mission and distributed at hospitals though the District Medical Office. The masks are meant for health professionals and not for public. The contingent workers and Green Task Force members under the Corporation will also get these masks.

In another development, Kudumbashree units in Kannur district have started online delivery of essential goods, following the 21-day lockdown announced by the Union government.

The distribution is managed by the system, Home Shree, developed by the Kudumbashree. Goods produced by the SHG and also items from the open market would be delivered at customer’s doorsteps.