RAJANNA-SIRCILLA: The powerloom workers, who have been out of work ever since the lockdown, are relieved to get work orders from the State government to make cloth masks. Every year, the government gives them orders to make Bathukamma sarees and uniforms for students in government schools. But owing the COVID-19 outbreak, all the work has been postponed.
In the initial days of the lockdown, they did not have work. But given the growing demand for masks and other protective gear across the State, they have now been asked by the government to make masks, which it would purchase from them and distribute among those who are at the forefront of the Covid-19 battle.
Jindam Tejashwini, a powerloom worker, said the order to produce masks came as a major relief to them. Another weaver, Rakha, said they earn `300 to `400 per day by producing cloth masks. She said that they would have been out of work if not for the work order from the government.
Of the 10,000 powerloom weaver families in Sircilla, about 1,000 families are involved in making masks. They said they were proud of making masks in bulk as it is their small contribution to the efforts of the State government in fighting the global pandemic. Meanwhile, the Society for Elimination of Rural Poverty (SERP) and DRDA have placed bulk orders with the Sircilla garment units.