UP prisoners join fight against Covid-19, stitch 1.25 lakh masks in 10 days

At a time of coronavirus outbreak, jail inmates in UP are turning out to be of great help. They are stitching disposable masks and have stitched more than 1,25,000

At a time of coronavirus outbreak, jail inmates in UP are turning out to be of great help. They are stitching disposable masks and have stitched more than 1,25,000 masks in last 10 days, said senior prison officials

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Director general (DG) of UP prison administration and reform services, Anand Kumar said the manufacturing of masks started from Barabanki district jail on March 15 where they had proper stitching unit for prisoners. He said initially five prisons were preparing 200 masks per day but gradually the production of masks started in 62 other jails too.

Kumar said as of now more than 250 prisoners were involved in stitching in 63 jails out of 71 across the state and were preparing over 10,000 to 12,000 mask per day. “ Now all the inmates in UP jails, numbering over 1 lakh have protective masks for themselves and now we are in a position to supply masks to the government departments, NGOs and general supply on very cheap rates,” he stated.

“We are increasing our production capacity daily. The work of stitching masks will continue till the nation is free from COVID-19 pandemic,” Kumar said.

The DG said sanitisers and disinfectants were also being manufactured in some jails. He said that these disinfectants were being used in sanitisation of prisoners at regular intervals for their safety.

“Thermal screening of inmates is being done regularly. Isolation centres and quarantine cells have also been set up for the safety of prisoners and jail staff,” he said adding that “If any inmate or jail staff is suspected of having symptoms of Covid-19, he would be quarantined for 14 days. In case further test is required, the person will be referred to the chief medical officer on the advice of prison doctors”.

Photo caption: A prisoner displaying disposable masks prepared by him at Moradabad district jail