Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Thursday visited the mask-making facilities of women SHGs under National Rural Livelihood Mission.
The facilities are situated in the Chandrapur area of Guwahati.
There he took stock of their activities and encouraged the women to continue the economic endeavour.
He appreciated the members of women SHGs for setting a strong example of economic resilience in the times of the global pandemic.
Members of 10,659 women SHGs have produced a total of 51,23,194 facemasks till now and out of these, 31,71,314 masks have been sold.
With the brand name ‘Asomi’, 84 stalls have been opened to sell masks in 33 districts of the state and a total of Rs 7.15 crore has been earned through the sale of masks by the women SHGs.
Also, more than 4 lakh masks have been distributed free of cost.
Speaking to the media Sonowal said that people would need to carry on observing the COVID-19 protocols until a vaccine is found.
He also said that steps have been taken to bring back state’s people stranded outside and those returnees must also adhere to COVID-19 protocols.
Referring to the 15 people in Guwahati testing positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday, Sonowal urged people not to panic as only staying united in this fight against the global pandemic can bring victory.
Ostracizing of coronavirus patients should never happen and he assured that the state government was fully capable of handling rising cases of COVID-19 in the state.