Interactive Session with Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham , on "A Revolution.a boon to the women self help groups by a rural Indian innovator" October 1st, 2013

Young FLO organised an interactive session with Mr. Arunachalam Muruganantham, a renowned Ted Speaker – Best Innovation award winner by the President of India Ms. Pratibha Patil in November 2009 Mr. Muruganantham is a rural Indian from Coimbatore who spoke about a monumental task taken up by him to address the dismal state of menstrual hygiene practices followed by women in villages.

The powerful witty rural earthy speaker shared his incredible journey of breaking through a problem totally ignored and taboo in India and went on to innovate and patent a machine which could manufacture a low-cost sanitary napkin for less than a third of the cost of most commercial ones.

He educated the members on some eye opening statistics that despite being in an independent India for nearly 60 years only 5% of India’s women use sanitary napkins. He emphasised the fact that each woman has her own uniqueness and we all should realise that potential. His aim is to provide rural women with self employment opportunities by supplying his machines. He has out rightly refused several offers from the MNC’s to commercialise his invention.

BBC featured him last year in a program titled “A man on a very unusual mission”. Mr Muruganantham flew in for the YFLO session from Mumbai after participating as one of the 6 guest speakers in the Global Marketing Summit held with the Gujarat Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, as the chief guest of honour for the Summit.

The members had an extremely interactive and enlightening question and answer session and were moved by his humbleness and knowledge. The session ended with members bonding over a delectable high tea.