APM Terminals Pipavav starts training villagers in mask making to combat COVID-19

APM Terminals Pipavav on Wednesday said it has started imparting training to villagers surrounding its port in Gujarat in mask making, a move that will help in generating employment to the villagers during the lockdown and thereafter.

The port aims to reach out to 50 villages by facilitating training on mask making so that villages are self-reliant with reference to masks, which is a vital component for the prevention of COVID-19.

APM Terminals Pipavav has commenced the mask making training with the help of Gopi Mahila Mandal, the company said in a statement.

"This initiative is to ensure washable cloth mask for all the adults and children in the villages which has population of around 20,000. This will also help in generating employment to the villagers during the lockdown and thereafter," the company said.

The main objective of this initiative is to ensure that every adult and child in the villages, cultivate the habit of wearing mask and other precautions to combat the pandemic, it said and added these locally made masks will be distributed among the residents and truckers in nearby villages like Rampara, Kumbhariya, Bherai, Shiyalbet, Kadiyali, Pipavav Dham etc.

This initiative will also provide free of cost masks to approximately 3,000 labourers from 18 villages who are working in MNREGA (Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) scheme at Rajula block, in Amreli District of Gujarat.

APM Terminals Pipavav is one of India's leading gateway port for containers, Ro/Ro (passenger cars), Liquid Bulk and Dry Bulk cargoes serving customers in the state of Gujarat with road and rail networks to hinterland and northwest.

The current annual Cargo Handling Capacity includes 1.35 million TEU Containers, 250,000 Passenger cars, 2 million tonne of Liquid bulk and 4 million metric tons of Dry bulk.