Section 36
Arunachalam Muruganantham
Jayashree Industries · Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
- About ₹75,000
- Cost of a manual machine · 2014
- 1,300 villages in 23 states
- Villages reached · 2014
The story
Arunachalam Muruganantham was the son of a handloom worker and left school at 14 to find work. He welded gates and windows in a workshop in Coimbatore. In 1998, newly married, he found that his wife used old rags during her periods because buying pads would mean the family could not afford milk.
He set out to make cheap pads himself. It took him two years and three months just to find out what pads were made of, and about four and a half years to create a low-cost way to make them. His wife and mother left him for a time during his experiments, and people thought he had lost his mind.
His simple machine won a national innovation award. Instead of selling pads under a big brand, he sold the machines to women's groups, so that each machine gives work to about 10 women. By 2014 the BBC reported that his machines had spread to 1,300 villages in 23 states. TIME named him one of the 100 most influential people in 2014.
Timeline
- 1998Newly married, he starts trying to make cheap sanitary pads for his wife.
- 2012The Hindu reports his machines have helped hundreds of women across India.
- 2014BBC reports machines in 1,300 villages across 23 states.
- 2014Named in TIME's 100 most influential people.