Nitin Gadkari Distributed PPE Kits Made by Indian MSMEs to Medical Staff

While expressing commitment of Indian MSMEs in the fight against COVID-19, Shri Nitin Gadkari, Union Minister for Micro Small Medium Enterprises (MSME), distributed personal protective equipment (PPE) kits manufactured by the Garment Common Facility Centre of MSME Ministry to the Deans of Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) and Indira Gandhi Government Medical College and Hospital (IGGMCH). Shri Gadkari took the initiative to initially provide 15,000 PPE kits free-of-cost to healthcare workers of Government hospitals and decided to get these kits manufactured from MSMEs in Nagpur.

This will be of additional help to the Government hospitals and healthcare workers in fighting COVID-19 pandemic. IIn the present scenario of COVID-19 outbreak, to safeguard the healthcare workers, paramedics, hygiene workers and others is the most challenging task, stated a press release issued by Press Information Bureau in Nagpur. There is a huge demand of PPE kits that provide protection from the infection to healthcare workers. The kits were distributed at the hands of Gadkari on Saturday. Speaking on the occasion, Gadkari said that these kits were provided free-of-cost as additional help from his side to healthcare workers of Government medical colleges.

These kits will act as important tool in fighting coronavirus, he added. P M Parlewar, Director, MSME Development Institute, Nagpur, explained the details of the kit and Dr Vikas Mahatme, Member of Rajya Sabha, spoke on importance of PPE kits for healthcare workers. Deans of IGGMCH and GMCH, along with other public representatives, were present during distribution of kits. The kits were distributed while maintaining social distance. Under the guidance of Dr Vikas Mahatme, Parlewar conducted the meeting with Common Facility Centre (CFC), Orange City Garment Cluster.

Discussions were also held with manufacturers from Nagpur and M/s Plasti Surge Industries Pvt Ltd, Amravati for manufacturing cover-all gown, masks and preparing the protective kits designed to safeguard the health of people by minimising the exposure to biological agent/virus. Cover-all gowns are designed to protect torso of healthcare providers from exposure to virus. Cover-alls provide 360-degree protection as they are designed to cover the whole body including back and lower legs. Various doctors were consulted regarding the requirement and specifications of kit.