A welcome move: Anita Dongre to make masks to support India’s fight against Covid-19 pandemic

In what can be called a welcome move, fashion designer Anita Dongre will be producing masks to help the nation fight the Covid-19 pandemic. Dongre took to Instagram to announce the initiative. “We have begun the production of protective masks to help meet needs amidst the current pandemic,” read the note posted by the designer.

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Ever since lockdown measures came into place, we have been finding ways to contribute meaningfully to safety efforts amidst the current pandemic. These efforts have now been greenlit. Starting this week, 24 of our women employees from two of our community tailoring units in Charoti and Dhanevari have offered their services in creating protective face masks to meet the needs of the community at large. All social distancing norms and hygiene measures will be followed during this time. These community tailoring units are a part of Anita Dongre Foundation’s larger efforts to provide employment to rural communities, which will now be producing reusable cloth masks, and will also be producing special disposable masks for doctors, nurses and medical staff at the request of local hospitals in the area. We are all in this together. We shall overcome. #AnitaDongre #AnitaDongreFoundation #FaceMask #StayHome #StaySafe #WeReAllInThisTogether #StrongerTogether #WeShallOvercome

A post shared by Anita Dongre (@anitadongre) on Apr 13, 2020 at 9:17am PDT

“Starting this week, 24 of our women employees from two of our community tailoring units in Charoti and Dhanevari have offered their services in creating protective face masks to meet the needs of the community at large,” wrote Dongre. “All social distancing norms and hygiene measures will be followed during this time,” she added.

As per a PTI report, around 24 women will be working in these village centres to create up to 7000 masks each week for distribution to NGOs, village residents, individuals, and hospitals.

View this post on Instagram

Ever since lockdown measures came into place, we have been finding ways to contribute meaningfully to safety efforts amidst the current pandemic. These efforts have now been greenlit. Starting this week, 24 of our women employees from two of our community tailoring units in Charoti and Dhanevari have offered their services in creating protective face masks to meet the needs of the community at large. All social distancing norms and hygiene measures will be followed during this time. These community tailoring units are a part of Anita Dongre Foundation’s larger efforts to provide employment to rural communities, which will now be producing reusable cloth masks, and will also be producing special disposable masks for doctors, nurses and medical staff at the request of local hospitals in the area. We are all in this together. We shall overcome. #AnitaDongre #AnitaDongreFoundation #FaceMask #StayHome #StaySafe #WeReAllInThisTogether #StrongerTogether #WeShallOvercome

A post shared by Anita Dongre (@anitadongre) on Apr 13, 2020 at 9:14am PDT

They will be working under strict social distancing and hygiene protocols to produce these masks and distribute them.

The cotton masks will be reusable, washable and sustainable.

This is Dongre's second initiative to fight COVID-19 after setting up a Rs 1.5 crore fund to cover smaller vendors and self-employed artisans.

(With inputs from PTI)