Bengaluru: With the scarcity of facial masks for use against the novel coronavirus pandemic, prisoners in Karnataka jails have been pitching in to manufacture them for themselves and the police department. They have so far sold 17,000 masks to the Home department.

“We were set to buy masks for our own staff and realised there aren’t enough available. That’s when we decided to manufacture these in prison. The inmates have been involved in the process of manufacturing the masks for a week now,” said Karnataka Prisons and Correctional Services Director General NS Megharikh.

Prisons in the state house a total of 15,000 and inmates in eight central jails are involved in manufacturing these. They have sold the masks at Rs 6 per piece to the police as well as to the Bengaluru Water Supply and Sewage Board. This is in addition to the masks being used by inmates and prison staff.

The inmates manufacture 5,000 masks per day.

In line with the Supreme Court order, a decision to decongest prisons will be taken soon, said Megharikh.

Home Minister Basavaraj Bommai said those who would be jailed hereafter would be isolated for 10 days before being put in prison with others as a precautionary measure against the spread of Covid-19.