“

Thef
ir
stmantowearaSani
tar
y
Napki
n”
PADMAN=Arunachal
am
mur
uganat
ham
Arunachal am Mur uganant ham  (Padman)( born12Oct ober
1961)i sa soci alentrepreneur  
fr
om  Coimbator e i
n Tami l
Nadu,  
India.Mur uganant ham wasbor nin1961t oS.
Arunachal am andA.Vani ta,whower ehand-loom weav ers
i
n Coimbat ore, 
India.Mur uganant ham grewupi npov ertyaft
erhi
s
fatherdiedi nar oadacci dent.Hismot herwor kedasaf ar
m
l
abor ertohel pinhisst udies.Howev er
,attheageof14, he
droppedoutofschool .
 Hesuppl i
edf oodtofact orywor kersand
tookupv ariousj obsasamachi net ooloperator,yam- sell
i
ng
agent,farml aborer,andwel der,
tosuppor thisf amily.
In1998, hemar r
iedShant hi. Shortl
yaf t
er,Muruganant ham
discov eredhi swi f
ecol l
ect ingf i
lt
hyr agsandnewspaper stouse
duringher  
menst rualcycle, assani t
arynapki nsmade
by mul tinati
onal corporations  wer eexpensi ve.
 Tr
oubl edbyt his,
he
starteddesi gningexper iment alpads.  
Ini
tiall
y,hemadepadsout
ofcot ton, butthesewer er eject edbyhi swi feandsi sters.
Event ually,t
heyst oppedco- oper at i
ngwi t
hhi m andr efusedt obe
thet estsubj ectsforhisi nnov ations.Her ealisedthatt heraw
mat erialscost  
₹10(14¢ US) ,butt heendpr oductsoldf or40t imes
thatpr ice. 
Hel ookedf orf emal ev olunteerswhocoul dt esthis
i
nv entions, butmostwer et ooshyt odiscusst heirmenst rual
i
ssueswi thhim.Hest artedt estingi tonhi mself,
usingabl adder
withanimal blood,butbecamet hesubjectofr i
diculewhent he
"sanitar
ypad"wasdi scoveredinhisvill
age. Asmenst r
uationwas
a taboo subj
ectinIndia,i
tlefthim ostr
acizedbyhi scommuni t
y
andf ami l
y.
 Hedistri
butedhi sproductsfreetogirlsinal ocal
medi calcoll
ege,hopingthatt heywouldgi vehimf eedback.He
alsowear sthispadandr ealizesthereissomemi stakeinthis.
Ittookhi mtwoy earst odiscov erthatthecommer cialpads
used cellul
ose 
fiber
sder ivedf r
om  pine bark 
woodpul p. Thef i
bres
helpedt hepadsabsor bwhi leretainingshape.I mpor t
edmachi nes
thatmadet hepadscost  ₹35mi ll
ion (US$510, 000).
 Hedev iseda
l
ow- costmachi nethatcoul dbeoper atedwi t
hmi ni
mal t
raining.
Hesour cedt heprocessedpi newoodpul pf r
om asuppl ier
i
n Mumbai ,andthemachi neswoul dgrind,de-fi
brate,
pressand
steri
li
zet hepadsunder  ultr
aviol
etl i
ght beforepackagingt hem for
sale.Themachi necost s ₹65,000 (US$940) .

In2006,hevisi
ted I
ITMadras 
toshowhi sideaandr eceiv
e
suggesti
ons.Theyregist
eredhi
sinventi
onforthe Nati
onal
Innovat
ionFoundati
on'sGrassr
ootsTechnologi
cal I
nnovations
Award;itwontheawar d.
 Heobtai
nedseedfundi ngandfounded
JayaashreeI
ndustri
es,whichnowmar ketst
hesemachi nest o
rural
womenacr ossIndia. 
Themachi nehasbeenpr ai
sedforits
simpli
cityandcost -eff
ectiveness,andhiscommi tmenttosoci al
aidhasear nedhi m severalawards. Despit
eoffersf
rom several
corporateentit
iesto commer ci
ali
ze hisventur
e,hehasrefused,
andcont inuestoprov i
det hesemachi nesto sel
f-
hel
pgr oups
(SHGs)  
runbywomen.
Muruganantham' sinventi
oni swidelypraisedasakeyst epi
n
changingwomen' slivesinIndia. 
Themachi necr eat
esjobsand
i
ncomef ormanywomen, andaf f
ordablepadsenabl emanymor e
woment oear ntheirl
iveli
hooddur ingmenst ruati
on. 
Inaddi
ti
onto
hi
sownout r
each, Mur uganantham' sworkhasal soinspi
redmany
otherentr
epreneurstoent erthisarea, 
i
ncludingsomewho
proposetousewast ebananaf ibreorbamboof orthepurpose.
Hei scurrentlyplanningtoexpandt heproducti
onofthese
machinest o106nat ions. 
Themov i
e Peri
od.Endof
Sentence. wont he AcademyAwar dforBestDocumentary(Shor
t
Subject
)f orthey ear2018. In2014,hewasi ncl
uded
i
n Time magazi ne'sl i
stof 100MostI nfl
uenti
alPeopl
einthe
World.I
n2016, hewasawar dedthe 
PadmaShr i
 by
the 
Gov ernmentofI ndia.