英語で読むデザイン【15】『マスク不足と闘うインド女性の活躍』
日本では落ち着きが見え始めたマスク騒動。花粉症やインフルエンザの時期も重なったこともあってか、10倍ほどの価格高騰が起こりました。インドも同様ですが、そうしたマスク不足問題と闘う女性の活躍がありました。
Rural women and mask-making amidst COVID-19
Ironically when job cuts are rampant, there are millions of women in rural parts of India who have been able to get an opportunity to earn money through mask making - a leading seller amidst the COVID-19 crisis.
The demand for masks increased during the lockdown by 400%, thereby rendering the mask making business an open venture for the rural women; especially those who knew stitching. In Maharashtra, within 15 days women made 6 lakh masks worth rupees 75 lakh. The State Women Development Corporation (SWDC) in association with Maharashtra State Rural Livelihood Mission (MSRLM) trained these women in making masks to earn a livelihood. The masks fetch Rs. 3 to 4 per unit for each woman, they being able to make around 150 masks per day.
Women in Fatehpur and Ahmednagar cities in Uttar Pradesh State made masks, distributed to brick kiln workers, and also sold to medical stores and vendors. Tribal women from Dehradun and remote areas like Almora, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh who used to make woollens for a firm called Rural India Craft, the manufacturing units of which had shut down due to the lockdown, started making face masks at home, which were dispatched to NGOs, and government bodies. The Self Help Groups of women formed under the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) decided to make masks at home. Rural Development Trust, an NGO in Andhra Pradesh trained women in mask-making thereby providing livelihood to many rural women in these times. In Mumbai, the women who were previously engaged in domestic help or in local industries like making bags and accessories, were given aid by NGOs like Apnalaya, Coro India and SNEHA to make washable and reusable masks.
Rural Women Technology Park (RWTP) under CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology in Jorhat, Assam, have employed rural women to make diverse products such as hand sanitizers, home-made face masks and liquid disinfectants. These would be distributed for free amongst the poor in the nearby villages. In Bihar’s Sitamarhi District also women have been making masks with the help of the government. In Kerala as well, over 300 women-led micro enterprises under Kudumbashree, the State Poverty Eradication Mission in Kerala, have manufactured more than 14.50 lakh cloth masks.
The above mentioned ventures have not only helped in protecting lives but also given the women a means of livelihood and hope.