Jailed Maoists make masks for Covid warriors

Jamshedpur: Incarcerated members of the outlawed CPI (Maoist), who once trained their guns on security forces, are now working to save their lives. A 15-member team of prisoners, including five rebels, of whom two are women, at Gaghidhi central jail are making 1,000 cost-effective masks every day for police personnel, Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawans, healthcare workers, district administration officials among other Covid warriors in the state.
In the 40 days since the lockdown was imposed to contain the spread of the virus, the group has made 45,000 masks, a figure they expect to double by the by the end of this month. Gaghidih jail superintendent Satyendra Choudhary said, “Initially, these masks were made only for in-house use, but we ramped up production owing to an increase in demands from various government agencies.” The prison started receiving bulk orders for the masks since Lockdown 2.0 came in force on April 20.
Choudhary said they started selling the masks to the common people directly after receiving complaints that some people were buying these in bulk from the jail on low prices and selling them outside for a much higher amount. He said, “We do not sell more than two masks to any customer to prevent hoarding.” Choudhary said 21 sewing machines are being used to manufacture the masks and the cloth required is bought from the market. “As of now, we have resources to make about 30,000 masks. We will take a call on increasing production if the demand increases,” he said.
On sanitisation of the masks, Choudhary said, “Alcohol is used to make these masks safe for use, but we have not been manufacturing the sanitisers in the jail because of the risks involved.” Spread over 20 acres of land, the Gaghidih central prison, with a capacity to lodge 1,447 inmates, has more than 1,800 prisoners undertrials and convicts.