Kalyan railway school distributes 20.5K masks, 600L sanitiser

Central Railway School, Kalyan has distributed 20,500 cloth masks and 600 litre sanitiser to BMC workers, railway employees and the needy. Principal Jacob Thomas,

Central Railway School, Kalyan has distributed 20,500 cloth masks and 600 litre sanitiser to BMC workers, railway employees and the needy. Principal Jacob Thomas, 58, took up the initiative to stitch masks in the school’s activity area after he failed to procure masks.

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“When the lockdown began, the first things I tried to acquire were masks and sanitiser. I found there was a shortage of these, and hence I decided to make masks and sanitiser for myself and others. I learned the process from a tutorial by World Health Organization,” said Thomas.

Along with stitching masks and making sanitiser, the school canteen is being used to cook food for 200 needy people.

“When there was a direction to shut the school, some of the contract labourers working inside the school agreed to stay and help me make masks. I also hired seven professional tailors to stitch the two-layered cloth masks. We managed to provide 2,000 masks to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC),” said Thomas. Thomas along with his wife, two children and two other teachers of the school make the masks alongside the tailors and workers.

“Preparing sanitiser was difficult as there were no alcohol available. However, I managed to get 400 litres of alcohol and prepared it by myself. I found people to help me pack the same in bottles,” the principal said.

Around 6,000 masks were delivered to railway employees and workers while the remaining masks along with sanitiser were distributed to needy community in Kalyan and nearby areas.