Kadapa: Prisoners join fight against coronavirus

Kadapa: The prisoners of Kadapa Central Prison are playing a crucial role in fight against COVID-19 by stitching masks to meet the rising demand for the same. According to prison officials, they have readied 1 lakh masks in the last 15 days for the safety of people in the district.

It may be recalled that the Union Ministry of Health Department has declared Kadapa as one the hotspots among 11 others in Andhra Pradesh. Hence, it has turned to be a mammoth task for the administration to supply masks to 25 lakh people in the district.

To keep up with the rising demand, the district administration has asked prison authorities to use their inmates to stitch the masks almost round-the-clock. "As part of their contribution to fight against killer corona virus, the inmates of prison are playing a key role in supplying masks in large numbers not only to general public but also for officials in medical & health department, MEPMA, police, banks, municipalities, electricity and other departments in the district," said jailor R Chinna Rao to The Hans India on Thursday.

Actually, tailoring unit in the prison has 40 sewing machines. "60-odd prisoners are able to churn out 7,000 masks per day and it could reach 10,000 in the days to come," says A Naresh Kumar, in-charge of the tailoring unit, who claims that Textport Industries Limited has provided 4,000 meters of cloth.

"We are distributing masks at nominal cost to destitute and other poorer sections who cannot afford to purchase masks in the outside market," said Kadapa Central Prison Superintendent K Gana Naik to The Hans India.