Government creates 13.2 lakh man-days work amid lockdown

Kolkata: The Mamata Banerjee government has successfully created 13.2 lakh mandays amid nationwide lockdown by adopting a completely different path to engage the state's MSME and Self Help Group (SHG) sectors.

At the same time by engaging the state's MSME and SHG sectors in these work, the Bengal government have also saved around 30 to 50 per cent funds because of local production.

"Whole country started placing orders with multinational and foreign companies for protective equipments for doctors and other frontline workers as the same was not manufactured in the country. Bengal has adopted a completely different path and engaged people from its own MSME sectors and Self Help Groups in producing the same," Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said adding that it led to a creation of 13.2 lakh mandays in the past two months time. She further said that another 8.5 lakh mandays will be created in the next 15 days.

She further stated that 2,500 self help groups given work of making masks and one lakh mandays were created in Self Help Group sector.

The state government workers with MSME units encouraging them to manufacture protective equipments and it was carried out following standards of WHO. A quality control mechanism was also put in place.

So far 7.5 lakh Personal Protective Equipments (PPEs), 45 lakh masks and 2.6 litre hand sanitisers were manufactured in the past two months. This comes when a capacity has been developed to manuufacture 25,000 PPE per day that is close to 10 percent of that of in whole country today.