BENGALURU: At 10am every day, Jayashree walks to a small building near her house in Cholanayakanahalli in Tavarkere, on the outskirts of Bengaluru and makes cloth masks until 6 pm. Jayashree is part of Stree Enterprises, a self-help group. When the lockdown was announced, she wondered how she would keep her family of five afloat.
However, luckily within a couple of days, she was asked to make masks. Now, she and 10 other women from her group make 3,000 masks each day. The driving force behind the initiative are Dr Mamatha, mission director, National Rural Livelihood Mission (Karnataka) and LK Ateeq, principal secretary of the department of rural development and panchayat raj. In less than a month, she got over 500 women’s self-help groups across 30 districts to stitch close to 10 lakh masks, an average of over 25,000 masks per day. The women earn Rs 2 to Rs 3 per mask.
The women not just stitch three-layered masks, but also disinfect them and ensure hygiene is maintained. “The masks are sold for Rs 12 to Rs 22 depending on the thickness. All masks are certified by the health department,’’ Mamatha told TNIE.
Y Rohini, another member of Stree Enterprises said they were given passes to get raw materials. They come to Bengaluru once a week, get the required material and return. “We have customers from the government sector who regularly purchase masks from us. As many as 12 members in our team, including two helpers are now doing financially better,’’ she said. Once the masks are packed, they are sent to the office of the deputy commissioner, police, hospitals, panchayat offices, and wherever else they are needed.