Pragathi Welfare Society offered them stitching machines to make cotton masks; the Society is paying Rs 3 per mask to the women, who stitch up to 100 masks a day
Women making cotton masks in Burgula village of Rangareddy district on Sunday. The masks stitched by them are being distributed free to people in nearby villages.
Hyderabad: Masks, which have become compulsory daily accessories for everyone across the globe, are helping women from about 100 families in Burgula village of the neighbouring Rangareddy district stand on their own.
The initiative, taken by US-based NRI, Alok Agarwal through the Pragathi Welfare Society, began with stitching machines being offered to the women to make cotton masks.
The masks stitched by them are being distributed free to people in nearby villages since June, with the Society paying Rs 3 per mask to the women, who stitch up to 100 masks a day.
Agarwal, the president of the Society, said the objective of the initiative was women empowerment and healthcare, as part of which 75 stitching machines were distributed initially. They had started off with each stitching around 65 cotton masks a day. So far, over 60,000 masks have been distributed in the nearby villages, he said.
“Several women have demonstrated that they can make 100 masks per day. Plans are afoot to scale up the project to provide employment to more women. The cost of the entire project has been around Rs 2 crore,” Agarwal said, adding that the cost to produce each mask amounts to nearly Rs 9, which is inclusive of raw material, transportation charges, rent for premises, stitching charges, wastage and R&D with quality improvement and salaries for staff.
Agarwal, a clinical associate professor at Wright State University, grew up in Hyderabad, and visits the city every year. He said during each of his visits he had spent at least two weeks in Burgula village helping the families there. With the pandemic came the idea for the mask stitching initiative and now, the focus is on the mask project, he added.
Sahadev, chief operating officer of the Society, said with the Rs 3 per mask offered to the women, each of them were earning around Rs 300 daily.
One of the women, V Akhila from Nerella Cheruvu village, said the lockdown saw her family losing all means of livelihood.“With the work provided by Pragathi Welfare Society, I am able to support my family in these tough times,” she said.
The work allows flexibility for the women because they can make the masks at home as per their convenience, seven days a week and do any other work as well. All they need is to collect the raw material from the Society, said Agarwal.
Article Credit: telanganatoday