CUTTACK: City-based Hazi Ali Producer Group, which was adjudged as the best SHG for its contribution towards making masks during the COVID-19 pandemic, was felicitated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday.
Producer group president Halima Khatun and secretary Jasmin Mallick were feted during the state-level International Women’s Day celebration via video conference. The group received a cash prize of Rs 50,000 along with a certificate. Collector Bhabani Shankar Chayani and Joint CEO, ORMAS, Cuttack Bipin Rout graced the occasion from the Cuttack Collectorate.
As the pandemic hit in 2020, there was an excessive demand for quality protective masks. The Hazi Ali producer group, under the aegis of ORMAS, seized the opportunity and started making cotton masks since March last year.
“After studying the market requirement, we encouraged the group to manufacture cotton face masks, which provided optimum protection for the general mass and were reusable,” Bipin Rout was quoted as saying by The New Indian Express.
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