Jammu (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], September 12 : As COVID-19 numbers continue to rise across the country, personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force in Jammu and Kashmir have taken on the task to make face masks for the public and their fellow jawans on the frontlines.
According to Assistant Commandant, Ajay Sharma, the CRPF in Jammu started to make the face masks around January this year, after Personal Protective Equipment was not readily available in the area.
“The pandemic came at the beginning of the year, and we had a hard time getting our hands on PPE kits as they were not readily available everywhere. We decided that we would prepare our own equipment and distribute it to all those who needs it,”.
We have made head to toe PPE kits including masks and face visors. When the lockdown was announced to control the spread of the coronavirus, CRPF personnel had to continue work on the frontlines as COVID warriors. Our duties did not change at all. So we decided to make these masks,” he added.
He further said that the face masks were also distributed through their helpline.
“We had a helpline through which people could request rations. Earlier, it used to just be food grains but we started to include hand sanitizers and face masks so that people could protect themselves and their families,”