Till now, the number of positive cases in India has touched 500, and death toll has risen to nine. Meanwhile, hand sanitisers and masks have disappeared from the market. There have also been allegations of these essentials being sold in black market. In this situation, many are passionate about making sanitisers and masks. Teachers and students of Jadavpur University have taken the initiative of making hand sanitisers.
Along with pharmacy students, the University’s engineering students with the help of professors are making hand sanitisers and giving them for free. Sanmoy Karmakar, professor of Pharmacology at the University said, “We are making handrub sanitisers by using ethyl alcohol. The sanitisers we are making are Formulation 1, recommended by the WHO.”
The team has already produced five litres of the sanitiser, and is planning to make more in the recent future. However, as the State government has restricted the free movement of Ethyl Alcohol, they are unable to manufacture more. Professor Karmakar said, “We are giving it for free to those who need it the most, as this is an emergency situation.” Hindol Mazumdar, a research scholar at JU, said, “It is a student’s initiative, with professors coming along to help.” He added that the group wants to produce sanitisers at a mass level, but that can only take place if the University authorities give them resources.
Vice Chancellor Chiranjeev Bhattacharya said that these sanitisers will be distributed free of cost and in adjacent areas of the University. A minimal charge is being taken by them only when someone is taking liters of the sanitiser. Students and professors of the Presidency University have also taken a similar initiative of producing sanitisers.