Name : A. Muruganantham
District & State : Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu
Category : Engineering
Award : National
Award Function : 5th National Grassroots Innovation Awards
Award Year : 2009
Price : Model 1:Manually operated machine set –Rs.1,37,000 Model 2:Semi-Automatic machine set –Rs.2,37,000 (Ex-factory India price + packaging). The price does not include transportation costs, taxes, etc. The cost also includes one day free training by innov
Delivery Period : Minimum 3 Weeks
Innovation Description
- Award Status
- IPR Status
- Technical Specification
- Salient Features
Sanitary napkin, a universally needed product, has a very low penetration in India due to the high price and the tradition of using cheaper but unhygienic old cloth pieces. The innovator has developed an assembly of low cost and portable machines that produce quality sanitary napkins at a low cost. It requires four persons to produce two pads per minute. This machine produces sanitary pads @ Re.1 to Rs. 1.50 per pad approximately. The innovator has also improvised a vending machine that can dispense single pads with the insertion of a coin.
Innovator Background
Muruganantham (47) hails from Pudur in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. When he was young, he lost his father, Mr. S. Arunachalam, in a road accident. His mother, Mrs. A. Vanitha, who was a housewife, had to work as a farm worker to support the family. Around this time, he discontinued his studies after SSLC to earn a living and help his family financially. During his formative years in school, he displayed a keen interest in science and astronomy. His science teacher encouraged him to experiment and give birth to new ideas. He had participated in a school science exhibition and won an award for a chicken incubator that he had developed. Most of his classmates came from neighboring farms. He spent a lot of time visiting the farms, learning about farm implements and also tried his hand at modifying and repairing them.
For over three decades, he faced economic hardships while trying his hand at various trades to support his family. He worked in various capacities; as a part time technician at Lakshmi Machine Works, Coimbatore, machine operator, insurance agent, farm laborer and yarn selling agent. Currently, he runs his firm, Jayashree industries, which he has built from scratch centered around commercializing his innovation- the mini sanitary napkin machine.