Newmai News Network
Shillong | April 5
Moving ahead with its efforts to contain and prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the state, the Meghalaya Government plans to produce about 10 lakh masks.
This was informed by the Chairman of the Meghalaya Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Renikton Lyngdoh Tongkhar who said that the department of Commerce and Industries of Meghalaya has already bought the cloth to make these masks which will be disbursed to the concerned tailors in every district.
“The material has already reached most of the districts and in Mawkyrwat alone about 2000 meters of cloth have reached with a target to make about 10, 000 masks,” he said on Sunday while adding that the disbursement of the cloth will depend on the number of tailors available in the respective districts.
Informing that all tailoring units registered with the department have been tasked to stitch the masks in addition to the tailors who will come forward for the task from the SHGS and NGOs, etc, Tongkhar said, “The interested candidates who can stitch the masks can approach the Industries office in their respective districts and they will be guided on what to do.”
When asked if they will also be trained to stitch the masks, he however said that the masks will be simple task for a tailor but even so, a video or manual for stitching and effective usage of the same will be provided.
“Once the tailors complete the stitching of the masks they will hand over the masks to the department which will bear the cost of their labour. The department will in turn distribute the masks to the health centres and also make them available for the public to buy in various shops,” he said.
He also said that the State Government took this decision after taking note of the low supply of masks in the open market and the opportunity to generate employment for many people.
It may be noted that during a meeting on Friday, the medical expert committee constituted by the government had advised all citizens to use masks in public places and follow hand hygiene, cough etiquette and social distancing protocols as advised earlier.
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