Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as the maker of low-cost sanitary napkins in India with his invention of cellulose-based pads, has made it to Fortune magazine's 2019 list of the world's greatest leaders.
Muruganantham ranks 45th in the list released by the American publication.
Bill and Melinda Gates top the list for the work of their charitable organisation Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, who earned much acclaim for her response to Christchurch mosque shootings in February, ranked second while the US special counsel Robert Mueller, who recently submitted his findings of the Donald Trump campaign's collusion with Russia, rounded off the top three.
In its citation for Muruganantham, Fortune magazine says, "Each machine converts roughly 3,000 women to pad usage—and the freedom of movement that comes with it—and provides jobs for 10 more women."
Access to sanitary napkins in India is not that easy for women who belong to the economically weaker section of the society. In the absence of sanitary pads, the women are forced to use dirty clothes during periods. Many girls drop out of school after reaching puberty.
According to a survey conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) about 43 percent of Indian women do not have access to sanitary essentials at the beginning of periods.
According to a National Family Health Survey (NFHS) 2015-16, about 57.6 percent of the Indian women use sanitary napkins and 62 percent women in the age group 15-24 years still rely on a cloth during periods.
To bridge the gap, social entrepreneur Muruganantham invented a machine in 2004 that turns cellulose into low-cost sanitary napkins—a huge boon for the India women.
Upon realising the high cost and the complex machinery involved in making a sanitary napkin, Muruganantham decided to set up his own machines which would make the same napkins at a lower cost, and with easy to use machinery.
The machine invented by Muruganantham costs only Rs 1,37,000 and provides employment to many women self-help group across rural India. Through his company Jayaashree Industries, he has sold more than 1,300 machines to 27 states across India and also to the other developing countries across the globe.
A school drop-out and the hero of the Oscar-winning documentary short Period. End of Sentence has been a guest lecturer at Ivy league universities, including Harvard in the United States, and at IIT Bombay, IIM Ahmedabad, and IIM Bangalore among other renowned Indian institutions. '
He was named in the TIME magazines list of 100 Most Influential People in the World in 2014.
For his efforts, Muruganantham has also been awarded a Padma Shri in 2016.
Menstruation is still considered a taboo and referred to as 'dirty' or 'impure,' in many parts of the country. But Muruganantham's efforts are changing the way Indian women deal with menstruation.
First Published: Apr 22, 2019 12:59 PM IST
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