Celebrate native innovations with social vision
Innovations
are key to development. We know some of the innovations at the corporate level
leading to cheaper products and services such as low cost cars and cheap mobile
calls. Of late, one could observe many Indian companies engaged in innovation to
make better products at cheaper rates for wider markets.
Prahalad and
Mashelkar note that this is more prevalent in India than the other countries.
To quote: “Nowhere is this more evident than in India, which was not exactly
famous for innovation till recently.”
But almost
all of us are completely unaware of the innovations taking place at the local
levels, in distant lands far away from the limelight. They are all due to the native
intelligence and efforts of the ordinary sections of the society. Of those who
won awards from the National Innovation Foundation set up by the Department of
Science and Technology, 30 per cent were not even fully literate. Invariably all
such innovations are cost effective and very useful to the society.
One could
observe a number of them in different business and industrial centres and the
less noticed semi-urban and rural parts of the country. Most of the innovations
are radical, opening new paths leading to progress and solving problems. Some of them are directed
at solving the day to day difficulties that the ordinary people face at the
social level.
Many of us may not be aware that the women
folk from the poorer households face serious problems during their menstrual
cycles. They find it difficult to buy sanitary napkins as they are costly for
them in the market is dominated by the multinational companies. With the result
they use dirty pieces of cloths that are unhygienic.
A few years
back a small entrepreneur coming from a village near Coimbatore, A. Muruganantham,
noticed his wife carrying unclean pieces
of cloths and upon enquiry came to know that the napkins sold in shops are
beyond the reach of their families. A self-made man, he was running
a small work shop. Since he could not
continue his school education after he lost his father, he started working in a
welding workshop as a helper earning a meagre salary, before setting up his own
venture after a few years.
After coming
to know the difficulties of women from the poorer segments of the society during
the menstrual periods, he decided to take steps to make napkins at affordable
rates for them. Soon he started studying the branded napkins sold by
multinationals, analysing their ingredients and testing them in laboratories.
His studies
revealed that the use of expensive machineries and premium prices are the two major
reasons for the higher prices of napkins. Cellulose is needed for making
napkins. The cost of the machine required to make cellulose out of wood fibre
was Rs. 4.5 crore. So
he decided to try and make a cheaper machine himself. He worked hard and
developed a new machine in four years.
He succeeded
in making the first low cost mini sanitary napkin machine in the segment
dominated by top multinational companies using high cost machines. The cost of
his machine was just Rs.75, 000. Subsequently he came out successfully with the
sanitary napkin in 2005. He gave his product to the local women and tested it.
The results were excellent.
The cost per
napkin worked out to around Rs.1.50 only. The whole sale price of branded
napkins sold in the markets was many times higher. Thus an unknown innovator from humble
backgrounds has finally shown the way for the poor women to use sanitary
napkins and lead hygienic lives. They would no longer need to worry about
infections and irritations.
During his
studies, he came to know that major proportion of women in rural areas do not
use sanitary napkins. He thought: “Why don’t I give machines to the poor rural
women so that they could make cheaper napkins themselves?” So he decided to give machines and materials to self-help groups comprising of poor women
in rural areas.
He started travelling
to different parts of the country to give training for women to make napkins. As
a result his machines are now working in far off places among the rural and
tribal regions of different states in India. The machines are cheap. They are
semi-automatic that do not require technical knowledge for operations.
Each of them
can be accommodated in a smaller space.
Only single phase power supply
is required. Anyone with the required training can manufacture napkins. About
two to five women can find employment in a single unit. A machine can produce
1440 napkins per day, giving a net profit of Rs.10, 000 per month to the
owner.
Here is an
innovator who revolutionized the sanitary napkin manufacturing industry with his
low cost machine. With the result the poor women are able to get a critical item
that they require at an affordable rate. He has succeeded in an industry
dominated by the global giants with Proctor and Gamble and Janson and Janson
controlling the market with their popular brands.
In 2006,
Muruganantham approached the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras to evaluate
his machine. The machine was chosen as the best innovation for the betterment
of the society. Since then he has been getting accolades from different sides,
including the President’s award. The Chhattisgarh government recognized him for
his initiatives among the tribal women.
He has also
obtained a patent for the machine but does not want to make it as a commercial
affair. Instead he has decided to share his innovation with the masses. Hence
he is making the poor and illiterate women as entrepreneurs, giving them the
machines and training. He founded Jayaashree Industries in 2006 with a long
term vision to innovate for the masses and a medium term vision to produce
absorbent solutions for them.
It is
important to note that such innovations are happening at the local levels for the
benefit of the neglected segments of the society. They are made by persons from
less privileged backgrounds amidst huge financial difficulties. In fact
innovations such as this are the real contributions that change the lives of
the needy segments.
And the people who make it happen are the true
visionaries. They succeed where the bigger corporations, elite institutions and
our highly educated technologists fail. It is time to widely recognize and celebrate
such innovations and support them in all possible ways, for their contribution
to the society is immeasurable.
References
Hinterland India: The Real Source of India’s Entrepreneurship,
India Brand Equity Foundation, Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of
India
Prahalad,
C.K. and Mashelkar, R.A., ‘Innovation’s Holy Grail’, Harvard Business Review, July-August 2010
Muruganandam,
A., Interview, Coimbatore
( Yuva Bharati, Vivekananda Kendra, Oct
2014)
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