Innovation - Muruganantham style ... making a difference in society ..

Arunachalam Muruganantham,

The sanitary napkin revolution in India, I do not know what to call this, low cost or disruptive or incremental or social innovation ..

Muruganantham, though not highly educated, has made a big difference to society.

The business advantage once again we find is on

1. improved hygiene
2. easy availability of cheap and good quality raw materials, 

Muruganantham with his sanitary napkin making m/c

3. easy manufacturing with indigenous technology and low cost machines, 
4. low costs  of raw materials and labour
5. greater reach to needy sections of society and
6. low marketing expenses

Ladies engaged in the manufacture

Here is an excellent (click here for the 2016 NY Times link) New York Times article on Muruganandam  .. Good journalism ..

May more of his tribe come up and serve the society .. It is more than evident that there is great ingenuity in Indian society, we just need to find the right exposure and the right cause ..

Here is his (click here) the 2013 TED talk ..

The positive point regarding this innovation is that it is meeting

Ladies engaged in manufacture ..

1. a great social cause of creating awareness of menstrual health, and women health in general
2. raising the confidence of women in society
3. doing all this on a self sustaining and profitable basis, 
4. adding value to society and women's lives and
5. contributing to national growth

The final end product ..

 If not Muruganandam, who should be given a national honour ? Sadly he does not have political patronage, he is not highly educated (representing at least a half of Indian population) and does not hold any fundamentalist views ..

Politicians do not share his social commitment, cannot exploit his great service to society and have nothing to gain from his service. Why should politicians recommend him for national recognition and honour ?

george..