No pilgrims this Char Dham season, women’s group resorts to making masks

Dehradun: With no pilgrim being allowed to undertake the Char Dham Yatra due to the novel coronavirus pandemic, a group of 25 women, who were earlier dependent on the tourism industry for livelihood, have now started making cloth masks for sale in the local markets.
In the wake of the Covid-19 outbreak, civic officials in Rudraprayag has joined hands with a local self-help group and provided training to 25 women on manufacturing cloth masks based on the Union health ministry’s guidelines. Rudraprayag Nagar Palika executive officer Seema Rawat said, “Masks have emerged as the most sought after product in the wake of the novel coronavirus pandemic. Hence, we sourced the cloth locally and started making masks with the help of the women’s group. We gave them sewing machines, electric irons and packaging materials. Our efforts have paid off as they have done business to the tune of Rs 2 lakh already.”
Each mask made by the group is priced at Rs 20 and they make over 300 pieces daily.
With hundreds of migrants returning home due to the extended lockdown, they expect that the demand would grow manifold in the coming days. The group’s head Deepa Panwar said, “All of us work from our homes and the masks are collected from our doorsteps for delivery. We have roughly made a profit of over Rs 8,000 each so far. It is way better than what we used to earn by making incense sticks.”
With the revival of the tourism industry not likely anytime soon, others associated with the hospitality sector, too, have resorted to other vocations like agriculture and poultry farming to make up for their losses.