New Delhi: The government’s initiative to boost women entrepreneurship – Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP) – has invited women-owned startups and small businesses that can procure, supply raw materials for masks and provide it to home-based women workers to make masks as an alternate source of income. NITI Aayog, which houses WEP, tweeted the initiative ‘Masking it up with WEP’ to support women workers hit hard due to Covid-19. “Home-based women workers have been hard hit and are struggling to make ends meet in this uncertain climate,” the initiative said inviting women-led businesses to join it.
Making masks would help women workers “cope with the economic difficulties that have ensued due to the pandemic and help in combating the shortage of surgical and reusable cloth masks,” it said. WEP plans to aggregate women startups and small businesses with the capacity to supply, procure raw materials and distribute cloth masks made by women workers across the country.
