With no jobs, teachers inspire slum women into mask-making

For the many teachers and mostly women who were rendered jobless by the changes brought on by the pandemic Dr Narayan Iyer of an NGO emerged as a saviour giving them a new source of income by making masks These teachers have roped in several housewives struggling to feed their families in different slum pockets of the cityTHROUGH the 60 teachers whom Dr Iyer the CEO of the India Development Foundation IDF mdash the NGO behind the project has helped about 300 people including migrant workers and dailywage earners across Dharavi Malwani Bharat Nagar BKC and Goregaon become financially independentEarn Rs 500 a dayDr Narayan Iyer whose NGO started the initiative to help women in distressUnder an initiative the women have been trained to make face masks according to the standards given by the World Health Organisation Each person stitches sanitises and packages 100 masks a day and makes Rs 500 earning Rs 5 per mask And these masks are then distributed in the slums to auto drivers homeless and the civic staff working tirelessly to keep the city up and running during the lockdown And they procured the materials for free through their networkA family of 14 with no jobsI was a teacher at a BMCrun Urdu medium school in Mitha Nagar Goregaon West I was teaching the Std I and II students on a temporary basis and earned Rs 10000 a month But due to the lockdown the school never reopened and I lost my job said Muskaan Ansari 33 a resident of Bharat Nagar BKCMuskaan said All of the four members of our family lost their jobs during the lockdown and the monthly income of around Rs 60000 in our house stopped suddenly and feeding 14 mouths became a challenge A few weeks ago my sir from the previous school approached me to ask if I could make masks I said yes even though I had no experience in stitching I called up a distant relative whose garment outlet in Bharat Nagar was closed due to the lockdown and made arrangements to rent sewing machines for Rs 3000 a month said MuskaanEmployed 15 more womenWithin a few days Muskaan managed to employ 15 more women in Bharat Nagar including eight temporary teachers like herVijay Basak 32 a social activist from Dharavi said that it is unfortunate that many teachers lost their jobs as schools went online amid the pandemic We gave work making masks to teachers and other housewives in Dharavi and Thakkar Bapa colony in Kurla East And they are now earning at least Rs 6000 to Rs 7000 I hope IDF is able to get more contracts so that we can continue to have a source of income said BasakUdaya Kumari a resident of Malwani in Malad earned Rs 20000 monthly tutoring students at home Udayakumari 50 a widow took home tuitions after losing her job at a private school in Malad Her daughter too took home tuitionsDr Narayan Iyerdistributes masks at schools and to civic staffI was happy that I could easily make around 100plus face masks The raw materials and cut pieces of mask would be delivered at my doorstep My job was to just stitch the masks that were then picked up I was able to make around Rs 6000Rs 7000 which was good enough for me and my daughter But we dont have any other source of income today she saidSalary slashed to Rs 50 a dayVandana Jha 34 a resident of Babrekar Nagar in Malad West teaches Hindi language to Std IX and X at a private school She earned Rs 100 per class before the lockdown but now it has been slashed to Rs 50 when she takes online classesIt is very difficult to meet daily expenses at R50 a day And now that I take online classes my mobile recharge cost has gone up to Rs 400 a month When I learnt about an opportunity to make face masks I decided to takeup the additional work as I can stitch On an average I make around 5060 masks she said My husband is an auto driver but during the lockdown he had no income Two months back my motherinlaw fractured her hand and he had to go to his hometown Patna Uttar Pradesh I am taking care of my two children and also running the house here Jha saidIts Project SHAANDr Narayan Iyer IDF CEODr Iyer said this initiative named Project SHAAN was by the IDF during the lockdown to provide sustainable income to women who have lost their jobs The threelayered fabric reusable masks are made by the poor for the poor They are distributed in slums pockets hospitals police stations schools bus stations and railway points in Mumbai tribal belt and neighbouring districtsThrough Project SHAAN the IDF created selfhelp groups in different locations like Dharavi Bharat Nagar Prem Nagar Malwani and Ambudwadi and provided sustainable job opportunities This has helped women take care of their electricity bills and tuition fees of their childrenDr Iyer said he could employ so many people because Initially he got the order from various trusts and charitable institutions with lump sum demand for face masks for public distribution and they would donate the equivalent money So far we have distributed 50000 masks made by people in Dharavi Goregaon and Malwan MaladCurrently 20000 masks are being made at Bharat Nagar by Muskaan and her team We are expecting another order for 25000 masks which will be given to women in Malwani and DharaviHow it startedSpeaking about what inspired him to come up with this initiative he said Initially during the lockdown I along with my volunteers would go to the slum pockets to distribute cooked meals and dry ration During these visits the housewives and some teachers told us about the challenge they were facing in paying the bills and buying basic groceries as they had no cash because they had lost their jobs That is when we realised people need more than ration and meals and came up with SHAANKeep scrolling to read more newsCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and a complete guide from food to things to do and events across Mumbai Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates MidDay is now on Telegram Click here to join our channel middayinfomedialtd and 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