COVID-19: SHGs make 1.32 cr face masks under rural livelihood mission

The production of face masks has been initiated by Self-Help Groups (SHGs) under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, the Ministry of Rural Development said on Saturday.

According to an official statement, 65,936 members from 14,522 SHGs across the country have manufactured 1.32 crore masks in the past few days.

"In response to COVID-19, face mask production has been initiated by SHGs members in 24 states covering 399 districts of the country under the Ministry of Rural Development's National Rural Livelihood Mission," the statement said.

It said that 21,028 members of 4,281 SHGs in five districts of Andhra Pradesh and 10,780 members of 1927 SHGs in 32 districts of Tamil Nadu produced 25,41,440 and 26,01,735 masks respectively in 10 days.

"Members of SHGs of various states like Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, and many North-Eastern states are also involved in producing masks," it added.

This comes as the country is under lockdown to prevent the spread of coronavirus, which has claimed the lives of 68 people and infected a total of 2,902 people.