#ApnaDeshApnaMask gains momentum with Remo D’Souza and Shantanu Maheswari

Apna Mask Initiative, a pan India initiative by StartUpVsCOVID, a Startup community with over 1000 members has come together to support the Government of India to fight COVID.

After building awareness around wearing homemade masks through influencers and celebrities, Apna Mask team collaborated with The Dharavi Dream Project to take the message forward through a rap composition that was delivered to appeal to the youth. The lyrics have been composed by McCann Worldwide team and dance rendered by the Dharavi Dream Project. Dharavi is one of the most severely hit areas in the state of Maharashtra with COVID, however, despite their personal challenges, the Dharavi Dream Project team created the video to encourage people to make masks at home. Remo Dsouza lending his support to these boys will boost their morale and will help spread the message.

The Dharavi Dream Project was started to discover, nurture and promote the Hip Hop talent from Dharavi and to initiate a Hip hop Movement to encourage young minds from all over the world to express themselves by giving them a platform for it.

#ApnaDeshApnaMask is one of our flagship initiatives to fight the war against the coronavirus which has now evolved into a global humanitarian crisis. In order to keep people protected, we are encouraging everyone to utilize home-made masks, wash hands, and sanitize regularly while surgical masks and N95 respirators are saved for healthcare workers. We are supporting the Government’s efforts around educating citizens around the importance of wearing masks.” shared Alok Mittal, Founder of Indifi Technologies, and CoFounder #ApnaDeshApnaMask initiative.

As we prepare ourselves to get out of the lockdown, social distancing and wearing a mask will be critical for our safety and protection.  At ApnaMask, we are thrilled to have more strong voices join us to help build awareness around homemade masks. Having Remo D’Souza launch the Dharavi Dream Project and Shantanu Maheshwari adding his steps too will help us deliver the message especially for the youth as we encourage people to pledge and make their own mask at home.” shared Poonam Kaul (Co-founder of ApnaDeshApnaMask initiative).

The #ApnaDeshApnaMask campaign started with stalwarts in the Startup industry – Rajan Anandan of Sequoia India, Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm, Alok Mittal of Indifi, Vishal Gondal of GoQii, Jasminder Singh Gulati of Nowfloats along with others taking a pledge to make and wear a homemade mask when they step out of their homes. Juhi Chawla, Divya Khosla Kumar, Juhi Parmar, and Deepshika Deshmukh have also joined hands with Vidya Balan, Dia Mirza, Sonu Sood, Shama Sikander, Preetika Rao and many others who are partnering in this significant campaign.

#ApnaDeshApnaMask supports the Government’s mission to spread awareness around the importance of wearing a Homemade mask and maintaining hygiene. The campaign will help build awareness and educate 1.3 billion people to adopt the trend of making masks at home and wearing them, every time they step outside. This is a very critical ask from Govt to ensure that people do not start hoarding masks that are reserved for healthcare workers.