Indian Railways readies 1.91 PPE kits, 7.33 lakh masks for COVID-19 warriors

The Indian Railways today said that the national transporter have manufactured 1.91 lakh PPE gowns, 66.4-kilo sanitizer and 7.33 lakh masks till June 24. "Indian Railways, in coordination with other Ministries and state governments, is totally geared up to meet the challenge of providing protection to its front line medical workers and other operational staff persons, from the COVID-19 pandemic. It is using all its resources in a coordinated manner to create/upgrade its facilities," the railway ministry said in a statement.

A railway ministry official said the railways workshops took up the challenge and raw material for producing these items was also procured by the field units. The PPE coverall target for June and July has been set at 1.5 lakh each, which is likely to be revised upwards.

The officer said during the lockdown, centralised procurement and distribution of the raw material and manufactured products throughout the railways network was accomplished under testing circumstances.

"Northern Railway was nominated for centralised procurement of raw material required for manufacture of PPE coveralls, a critical component with respect to quality. All in-house manufactured products satisfy all applicable quality standards," he said.