Face shield prepared by Kraftinn | Photo courtesy: Kraftinn

COVID-19 pandemic has changed the way we live and work. In the last three months, we had to adapt to a lot of changes in our life to keep ourselves healthy and also dealing with economic challenges that came with the pandemic. There is little doubt that the crisis will have a long term effect on the economy.

While the government is trying their best to support the industries and identified many different ways to improve the situation, there are businesses which are adjusting their line of work to suit the new normal.

Jorhat-based Kraftinn Home Décor, which specializes in handicraft items, has taken the challenge in their stride to resume their operations.

During the lockdown period, Kraftinn built unique low-cost face-shields made of locally available materials in collaboration with NID, Assam as the entire supply chain was disrupted during the lockdown period and protective gear was needed to be developed locally. These face-shields were handmade and the frame used was of bamboo.

“These face-shields were designed keeping in mind the masses who work in the grassroots level to provide essential services to us. These face-shields are lightweight and can be worn for longer period of time,” said Parikshit Borkotoky, MD at Kraftinn Home Décor India Private Limited.

When coronavirus started to affect various countries, Kraftinn, which operates in the e-commerce space and also caters to B2B clients, proactively made arrangements for the safety of their employees. Their facilities worked with limited capacity and most of the workers worked from their home. Periodically, the employees would come and assemble the various parts of the products and pack them. This strategy helped Kraftinn in maintaining their policy of providing sustainable income to every person involved with them. It also helped them bounce back to normal business as soon as the lockdown was relaxed by the government.

Kraftinn estelle in light copy – The News Mill
Other products at Kraftinn

“We had ample time to introspect what we are doing and identify the areas where we can improve. We noticed that the new generation is very aware about the environment causes and we should encourage them to take positive actions for protecting the environment,” said Borkotoky.

He also informed that Kraftinn is proactively trying to build a community of environmental volunteers. “Kraftinn believes that the seed has to sowed at an early age. Taking that thought forward, Kraftinn has partnered with Kotak Mahindra Bank Ltd in organising an online art competition to create environmental awareness. The art competition will be judged by contemporary visual artist Pareejat Gogoi Phukan and naturalist and wildlife and botanical artist Paresh V Churi. Both of them are internationally renowned artists in their respective fields of art,” he added.

 

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About TNM NewsDesk

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The News Mill is a Guwahati-based digital media with focus on content from across Northeast India and beyond. We can be reached through [email protected]