In her interaction with Hello Womeniya News, she said “On March 24, the 1st day of curfew, I realized that the pandemic is here to stay. In this situation, Masks were going to be a basic necessity for everyone. It wasn’t mandatory, but when it turned out to be scary and dangerous to lives, Government made it compulsory for people to wear masks to avoid the spread of virus. Also, the surgical masks available to the common public had become expensive due to the high demand.”
Here is where she realized the need and started to work on the fulfilment of demand. She quotes, “This is why me and my tailor decided to make double layer cotton masks. We started with whatever cotton fabric we had in-house and I also borrowed some from my friends and relative.
We were the 1st one to start such an activity in the city. We started donating these masks for free to doctors, hospitals, NGOs, Municipal Corporation & individual volunteers who distributed them at various places.”
She also added “As the buzz started making the rounds, we got fabric donations from a very big manufacturer. And another lady contributed by providing me 2 more tailors. Three tailors were on the mask making. Lot of known and unknown people started coming to me and contacting me for masks. We would give them any number of masks they needed and further it would reach all the needy, homeless, poor.
Eventually, we realized that the surgical masks are adding to the non-biodegradable waste. And commoners do not even need to wear those. So, we increased production and rigorous distribution till May. Some people who gave money against the masks, we would use them to buy ration kits for the ones who had a scarcity of food or no income. This way I and my team distributed over 5,000 masks in a period of 2.5 months.”
She further stated “I am grateful to everyone who contributed to this cause in some way or the other. I felt blessed to have got this opportunity to put my professional skills, resources, and infrastructure to such an apt use at the correct time.”
- News report by Shikha Singh.
