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A stitch in time: Girl students of Punjab’s ITIs making masks for Covid warriors
Over 2,000 students in 77 ITIs have already prepared 2.23 lakh masks by pitching in their time and talent from home
Doing their bit to arrest the spread of coronavirus, over 2,000 girl students of various Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in Punjab are stitching free masks for the frontline warriors battling the pandemic.
In the past two weeks, the students have made 2.23 lakh four-layer, washable masks from home. The Punjab State Board of Technical Education and Industrial Training is arranging for the raw material either through the administration or through contributions by the ITI staff, residents and NGOs.
The stitched masks are further provided to the district administrations, healthcare institutes, police and panchayats for their use. In Ludhiana, masks have been given to health workers, staff at grain market, police officials and residents of various villages, including Malakpur Bet, Kila Raipur, Gujjarwal and Jassowal.
Each student is stitching about 25 masks daily under the guidance of principals of 77 ITIs in Punjab. Made of cloth, the masks are washable for reuse.
Amandeep Kaur, 22, who is pursuing a dress-making course at Government ITI (Women), Rajpura, Patiala, said, “I have a sewing machine at home, so I make masks for four hours daily and spend an equal amount of time studying online.” She added that she was provided raw material by the sarpanch of Faridpur Jatta village, so she prepared masks for the villagers as well.
Sandeep Kaur, a student of Government ITI (Women), Ludhiana, said, “I make sure to use sanitiser, wear a mask and maintain social distancing. I stitch 12 masks in two hours and about 30 masks daily. Our principal provides us the fabric.”
“ITI staff from Ludhiana visited our village a week ago and gave us about 1,000 masks for free. We have distributed these masks in the slum areas. As masks are unavailable in the market, the ITI initiative helped us a great deal,” said Charanjit Kaur, member of Malakpur Bet panchayat, Ludhiana.
The fabric supply was not an issue as individuals and NGOs had been providing the material, said Baljinder Singh, principal of Government ITI, Gill Road, adding that 217 students in the district had prepared 22,988 masks. “They will prepare another 10,900 masks in the coming week,” he said.
“This will hone the skills of students and also enable them to contribute towards a social cause. The district administration, Amritsar, requires 1 lakh masks and students of nine ITIs in Amritsar are stitching these masks. Besides, the Mohali district administration requires 20,000 masks; that of Rajpura requires 10,000 masks, and the Samrala administration needs 1,000 masks,” said Anurag Verma, principal secretary, technical education and industrial training, Punjab.
