Punjab Agricultural University provides protective masks to its employees during COVID – 19 pandemic
Ludhiana- As a part of its ongoing initiatives to help stem the impact of the Covid 19 pandemic, the Punjab Agricultural University research associates and students, under the guidance of Dr Sandeep Bains, Dean College of Community Science, have designed and developed 4950 protective face masks that are ready for supply. These masks are developed by using double layered cotton fabric in two variations i.e., with elastic and with strings.
It may be mentioned that earlier Dr Bains had developed protective clothing for farm workers, under All India Coordinated Research Project. These included protective gloves for okra, soya bean and sugarcane harvesters; masks for workers harvesting wheat and an overall protective cover for ber fruit harvesters. The gloves protected the workers against hairy scales and harsh stems of the crop, protective cover helped the workers to protect them from the thorny bushes of ber crop, whereas the pleated masks protected the workers from inhaling the micro dust during crop harvesting. Farmers were made aware of these protective clothing through demonstrations and field visits. Subsequently, consistent use of these protective clothing, created a demand among the farmers. These were later sold at Kisan melas of PAU as well as Kisan club meetings. The available stock of protective masks, was provided to the faculty and staff of PAU as per requirement, a day before the lockdown.
Dr Baldev Singh Dhillon, Worthy Vice Chancellor, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, has appreciated the initiative, as the protective masks is need of an hour and will be provided to the field workers in research field, security personnel and shall also be made available for faculty and non-teaching staff.