1.

a. "Project Titli" has been functioning since February 2016 at the Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Delhi, under the auspices of Enactus. Its mission was to create a
revolutionary low-cost and environmentally friendly menstrual pad for women in
India's Bottom of the Pyramid (BoP). It aimed to address the acute demand for
improved menstruation hygiene among economically challenged women in Delhi's
slums, transforming and empowering them. The World Bank estimated in 2012 that
roughly one-fifth of the Indian population was poor, indicating the potential size of
the market for low-cost items. Anurag Gangwar, a project lead with the Enactus
chapter, aptly conveyed this. They noted that by August 2018, the team had reached a
fork in the route. For three years, the IIT-Mysore team has been working on a
program to improve menstrual hygiene awareness. They were influenced by the work
of Mahesh Khandelwal and Arunachalam Muruganantham, who designed machines
to produce low-cost menstrual pads. Harshita Arora, a designer, made important
product design suggestions. Manjit, an entrepreneurial slum resident, has committed
to launching a business to produce the pads. The crew had conflicting sentiments
about continuing with the project in its current condition. Menstrual Hygiene Day is
honored on May 28th, however it is rarely openly mentioned. According to a 2010
research, only approximately 12% of Indian women utilized sanitary napkins. Niine,
an inexpensive and local Indian brand, had emerged as a contender. Aakar
Innovations, Saathi, Ecofemme, and Goonj were other prospective organizations that
provided biodegradable and cotton pads. Saral Designs, based in Mumbai, took a
centralized strategy to producing and distributing high-quality, ultra-thin, low-cost
pads for low-income populations. Ecofemme was another women-led business that
manufactured and sold washable cloth pads as well as providing menstrual health
education. Various organisations were increasingly being contracted by the federal
and state governments to distribute free pads to girls in schools and low-income
neighborhoods. The availability and quality of imported pads from China, Ukraine,
and Malaysia were also fast increasing.
b. The team paid a visit to Mahesh Khandelwal in Varanasi, which is just a few hours by
train from Delhi. They purchased one machine and raw materials after testing the
 pads and determining that they were suitable. By this point, the team had found one
potential entrepreneur, Manjit, through an NGO and persuaded her to work on this
project. Despite the fact that team members trained Manjit, the pad quality was not as
desired. Manjit from Deepalaya was ejected from the room where the production unit
was set up; all supplies had to be hauled out, and production was halted. Deepalaya
quit helping Manjit since she was out of work and in debt. This chapter had come to
an end after nearly a year with no outcomes. The team looked at a variety of issues,
including the severity of the community's situation and its location. They decided to
concentrate on Kapashera, an urban slum near the Delhi border. Cloth was the most
popular material because most women could get it for free from the factories where
they worked and from old petticoats. Because most women found cloth to be
breathable and comfortable, the team opted to design an entirely cloth-based pad. The
Kapashera village was crowded, with little space to dry menstrual fabric openly in
sunshine and a constant scarcity of water. The group planned to develop a cloth-based
disposable menstrual solution that might also give jobs. Stitching on the sides used
less thread and kept the middle layer in place while preventing capillary action
seepage through to the last layer. It could sanitize 40 pads in one minute and cost INR
2,600, which is one-fifth of the market price of commercially available sterilizers.
The team created a training kit for community tailors that included the instructions
and cardboard molds.
2. In February 2016, a group of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) students launched a
menstruation pad project. They obtained one machine and raw supplies, as well as
Manjit, a potential entrepreneur, from an NGO, and urged her to work on this project.
The plan was for the team to work with an NGO called Deepalaya, which would be in
charge of production through Manjit's facilities. Despite the fact that the staff supplied
Manjit with training, the pad quality was not as desired. A lack of maturity in dealing
with suppliers, as well as challenges with recipients on the ground, were also significant.
Deepalaya co-founder Anurag Basu claims that the team's inexperience and naivety
rendered them vulnerable to scammers. Other major difficulties have emerged. According
to the report, 71% of women are uninformed of the reasons of menstruation and the need
of maintaining clean practices. They highlighted three requirements: low cost, high-
 quality items (ideally made of fabric), and increased awareness. The team received varied
reactions; some ladies said they would buy the pads if the price was lower. It fared well
in terms of overall product finish, was typical in pH tests, and was ordinary in terms of
water and fluid absorption. It did, however, have leaking from the outer layer and a moist
feeling on the inner layer. A local R&D organization suggested numerous changes to
address these difficulties. The "Awareness" vertical was created to supplement India's
existing "Product" vertical for menstrual products. The team investigated how various
non-governmental organizations (NGOs) raised awareness about menstruation and
discovered that their present techniques of raising awareness were tedious since they did
not engage the active participation of listeners. They searched the internet for various
types of games, such as popular board games, and also considered turning a roulette
casino into a game. Finally, three games were chosen to be developed further: Memory
Game, Roulette, and Jigsaw Puzzle. The games were a useful tool for better
[communicating] the issue to the participants. By the end, age-old myths about
menstruation had been debunked, and the participants will continue to raise awareness
among family and the community. There were three games in total: Master Masik, Fun
Learn 28, and Roulette (see Exhibit 4 for details). Because securing a limited number
entailed a disproportionately high cost, the team had to develop prototypes. The team
recognized the necessity to manufacture the games in order to standardize them and
provide a quality experience. Finally, one was found who agreed to produce 100 sets of
the three games and assisted in the design of the games' exterior boxes. Enactus' corpus
provided funding for production. By mid-June 2018, the games were finally available. By
August 2018, the team had concluded that the pad had not generated enough community
demand. They had mixed sentiments as they reflected on their nearly three years of
involvement with the project. On the one hand, it was realized that the project could have
produced tangible effects on the ground.
3. Kak semangats
4.
a. In February 2016, a team of students at the Indian Institute of Information
Technology (IIT) launched a project to manufacture sanitary pads for women in
India. Since the Arunachalam and Khandelwal models were well-known, the team
 visited Mahesh Khandlwal in Varanasi, located only a few hours by train from Delhi.
The team's model was to collaborate with an NGO Deepalaya, which would be
responsible for production through Manjit's facility. Although the team provided
training to Manjit, the pad quality was not as expected. In particular, the SAP pieces
tended to form lumps when producing the middle layer. Anurag says the team
misjudged investment on the machine, lack of emphasis on the product and untested
market and customer assumptions were critical. Manjit was evicted from the room
where the production unit had been set up; all the materials had to be moved out, and
production was stopped. There was demotivation all around, and everyone had a
theory of what had gone wrong. A team of researchers from the Indian Institute of
Technology, Delhi surveyed 14 urban slums in and around Delhi to study how
menstrual practices varied with various factors such as age and education. The survey
revealed that 71% of women were unaware of the causes of menstruation and the
importance of practicing hygienic habits. Women were apprehensive about adopting
plastic-based alternatives since it meant an abrupt change from cloth, an age-old
practice prevalent in their families.
b. The team visited the community on alternate weekends to run sessions and identify
women who could sew and market the product. They decided to sell two pads to each
woman who attended health awareness sessions or health check-ups conducted by
NGOs and collect their contact information. The team tested it at a local R&D
organization and found that it performed well on overall product finish, typical on pH
tests and average on water and fluid absorption. However, some problems – notably
leakage from the outer layer and a wet feeling on the inner layer – were also
highlighted. To overcome these issues, this organization recommend several
improvements, including coating the inner side of the inside cotton layer either with
soya protein or natural rubber. After making these design changes, the team
distributed 200 pads for free and sold over 50 pads in India and 775 pads elsewhere.
c. By August 2018, the team had concluded that the pad had not generated sufficient
demand in the community. As they reflected on their almost three years of association
with the project, there were mixed feelings. On the one hand, there was a realization
that the project could perhaps have delivered tangible results on the ground had it
 been handled better. There was no doubt that the core issue of menstrual hygiene
remained intractable.
d. The survey had indicated certain features of this community that had to be kept in
mind. Cloth was the most preferred material as most women could get this for free
from factories they worked in and from old petticoats. Also, cloth decomposed faster
than plastic and was environmentally friendly. An added advantage of using cloth
pads was the possibility of getting them stitched by the community women
themselves and, hence, generating local employment. Instead of snap fasteners or
hooks, Velcro was used as an alternative to prevent any infection from rusted parts.
The device's final cost turned out to be INR 2,600, one-fifth of the market cost of
commercially available sterilizers. It could sterilize 40 pads in a one-minute cycle.
5. The team at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi surveyed 14 urban slums in and
around Delhi to study how menstrual practices varied with various factors such as age
and education. According to the report, 71% of women are unaware about the reasons of
menstruation and the need of following healthy menstrual practices. They highlighted
three requirements: low cost, high-quality items (ideally made of fabric), and increased
awareness. So, how did Titli fare? How could the team assess its performance? Should
they keep innovating or turn to tried-and-true low-cost options like Khandelwal or
Arunachalam? Was the product's underwhelming performance due to a defect in the
product concept itself? They had already attempted collaboration with non-governmental
organizations and donors, but what else could they do? Their status as IIT-Kolkata
students was at stake, not only within the college but also throughout the slum. In India,
the market for sanitary pads was enormous and quickly expanding due to increased
awareness and purchasing power. Niine, an economical and local Indian brand, had
emerged as a rival alongside well-known multinational brands. Other prospective groups
included Aakar Innovations, Saathi, Ecofemme, and Goonj, which provided
biodegradable and cloth pads and focused on raising menstruation awareness. The former
is credited with developing a low-cost sanitary pad-making machine and boosting
menstruation awareness in rural India. The latter created a machine that could generate
2000 pads per day and was put in 23 Indian provinces. Both were created to be low-cost,
easy to operate and maintain, and environmentally friendly.