Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala government on Friday decided to use the tailoring units in prisons of the state to deal with the shortage of masks following the coronavirus scare.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the central jails of the state would begin the manufacture of masks soon.

"Since there is a shortage of masks in Kerala due to coronavirus scare, the state government has decided to manufacture them at the tailoring units in the prisons," he said.

In a Facebook post, Pinarayi said, "Kannur, Viyyur and Thiruvananthapuram central jails will immediately start producing the masks."

"We will also make use of the facilities in other jails to produce masks and deal with their shortage," Pinarayi said.

The Kerala State Drugs and Pharmaceuticals Ltd, a public sector undertaking, has assured the state government that it would produce enough sanitisers for the state.

“They told us that they can produce one lakh bottles within ten days,” Pinarayi said.

Kerala has been hit by the second round of coronavirus cases after the country's first three positive cases in the state were successfully cured and discharged from hospitals last month.

The state has reported 19 cases and 270 people are in isolation wards at various hospitals.

Essential commodities

The central government on Friday declared face masks and hand sanitizers as essential commodities for the next 100 days as it stepped up efforts to boost supply and prevent hoarding of these items in its fight to check spread of coronavirus disease.

The Centre has also invoked Disaster Management Act to ensure price regulation and availability of surgical and protective masks, hand sanitizer and gloves.

Both masks and hand sanitisers have been brought under Essential Commodities Act, 1955, empowering states to regulate production, distribution and prices of these items and also crackdown on hoarding and blackmarketing.

States can now notify the central order in their official gazette and also issue their own orders under the EC Act depending on the situation, the ministry said.

They may take action against offenders under the EC Act and PBMMSEC Act (Prevention of Blackmarketing and Maintenance of Supplies of Essential Commodities Act) 1980.

An offender under the EC Act can be punished with an imprisonment of up to seven years or fine or both. Under the PBMMSEC Act, one can be detained for maximum six months.

The EC Act was established to ensure the delivery of certain commodities or products, the supply of which, if obstructed owing to hoarding or black-marketing, would affect the normal life of people. This includes foodstuffs, drugs, fuels (petroleum products).

The Act itself does not lay out rules and regulations but allows the states to issue control orders related to dealer licensing, regulate stock limits, restrict movement of goods and requirements of compulsory purchases under a levy system.

The development comes a week after Vardhan chaired a meeting to review preparedness for managing coronavirus outbreak. He also warned black marketeers against hoarding of masks and sought strict action against those charging inflated prices.

(With inputs from PTI)