Women self-help centres in Jammu’s migrant camps produce 5k face masks daily

Sumit Hakhoo
Tribune News Service
Jammu, April 17

Women self-help groups in migrant camps for displaced Kashmiri Pandits make 5,000 face masks daily for the needy and those engaged in essential services across the Jammu region.

The initiative has been started by ‘Athroot’ (which means let us help each other) centres, which are run by Sewa Bharti, an NGO. The women have so far made nearly 50,000 face masks after the group suspended its routine training programme following the lockdown and shifted its energies towards fighting the coronavirus in Jammu and Kashmir.

In normal times, the centres run at the Jagti, Nagrota, Muthi and Purkhoo camps impart skill development training to children, especially girls belonging to the Kashmiri families displaced by militancy and living in Jammu for the past three decades.

“After the lockdown, we suspended our routine classes. As there were reports of scarcity of masks in various areas, we decided to divert our resources and produce them on a large scale since the first week of April,” said Anjali Radhu, who supervises the production line at Jagti, some 13 km from Jammu.

A majority of the workers are from the migrant camps and visit the centres daily to ensure that the target to make the face masks is met. The consignment is then handed over to the volunteers who distribute them as per the requirement in various parts of the city.

“This is our contribution to the fight against the coronavirus. Every citizen who can contribute should play his role, keeping in view the directions of the government. We ensure that social distancing and preventive steps are taken during the making of the masks,” said Akshay Kumar, who is associated with Sewa Bharti.

The skill centres do not get any government help. They teach women tailoring and embroidery works and impart free beautician training course so that they can supplement the income of their families, which are dependent on the government’s cash relief.