Sanitary napkins produced in a “Small is Beautiful” model can deliver livelihood, hygiene and dignity to poor women, and help them strengthen society

1) Builds a viable and sustainable enterprise that can be run efficiently by the stakeholders at the grassroots.

2) Delivers an essential commodity – the sanitary napkin – to poor women at affordable rates without compromising on the raw material used (which is not the unviable cotton) or quality of the product as compared to the multinationals. This is an extremely crucial development and can be viewed as a breakthrough in positive social engineering.

3) Reduces the players involved in the supply chain – the third person to handle the product (from its inception) is the consumer.

Action plan:

Setting up 100 units for women SHG group and NGO’s in the rural areas .
Cut of date Dec 15,2012

By this
Creating not less than 5,000 sustainable rural lively hood for women
Ending with hygiene improvement for a Million women shifted from unhygienic rag cloth using method to hygiene Sanitary napkin using method.

Full Impact potential:
Future plan (After Dec 31,2012)
Making this achievement as a role model to make” India As 100% sanitary napkin using country by this we also achieve “A million rural employment for women”

Problem

The use of sanitary napkins amongst women, has traditionally been fairly widespread in urban India, but rather limited in the rural and low-income segments. As alternatives to existing high-cost sanitary napkins, most women in the latter segment use cloth during their menstruation cycle. The price of such sanitary napkins is the biggest entry barrier The production of sanitary napkins is highly centralized, thereby increasing the logistical cost of product delivery. Traditional sanitary napkins producing machines are typically set up centrally and involve a high investment cost of INR 3.5 crores per machine . Multinationals, who are suppliers of the top sanitary napkin brands in India, operated marketing avenues for the base of the pyramid in rural India whose identification with sanitary napkins is minimalist. a study by AC Nielsen, only 12% of 355 million menstruating women use sanitary napkins in India (Sinha, 2011). The remaining 88% of Indian women resort to using unsanitary rags, newspapers, dried leaves and even ashes, during their menstrual cycles because they cannot afford to buy sanitary napkins, or do not have access to them. As a result, more than 70% of these women suffer from incidents of reproductive tract infection, which increases the risk of pregnancy-related complications and congenital infections (Population Council, 2003).

Solution

Reasons for non-usage of hygienic sanitary napkin in rural areas a) Lack of Awareness of the women b) Affordability for the women c) Existing Cultural Practices by the women Now Now by Jayaashree Industries project cost of Rs.80,000 to Rs.2,00,000 worth new award wining invention mini sanitary napkin unit that runs on simple technology can be process the wood pulp and the non woven fabric , and even a rural women can manufacture superior saleable napkins at a small unit to big company manufacturing units Sanitary napkins produced in a “Small is Beautiful” model can deliver livelihood, hygiene and dignity to poor women, and help them strengthen society 1) Builds a viable and sustainable enterprise that can be run efficiently by the stakeholders at the grassroots. 2) Delivers an essential commodity – the sanitary napkin – to poor women at affordable rates without compromising on the raw material used (which is not the unviable cotton) or quality of the product as compared to the multinationals. This is an extremely crucial development and can be viewed as a breakthrough in positive social engineering. 3) Reduces the players involved in the supply chain – the third person to handle the product (from its inception) is the consumer. 4) Thereby makes optimal use of the micro-credit generated by a community.

Exemple

With his decentralized model of Sanitary napkin making activity, Jayaashree Industry is creating an ecosystem that is self sustainable for rural women. This concept of decentralization provides a way to develop a sustainable business model in rural areas, run by local women SHG’S. This provides employment for many years by selling napkins to the same customers, which is a commodity of frequent use. It further provides necessary products at an affordable price without compromising on quality or raw materials. This new business model shortens the supply chain by allowing consumers to develop the product locally, thereby eliminating the traditional supply chain. Here, rural women build the napkins for local markets, thus allowing for the optimal usage of microcredit by investing with SHGs. This model asks for women to participate in complete product life-cycles, not only as users, but also as technology designers, manufacturers, and marketing persons. Further, these women are the owners of their business. For many rural women who had virtually no formal contact with the outside world, this is a great leap forward. With the napkins being available to more women, the overall rural economy gets a push forward. It also increases the awareness about hygiene in general. As a result, the following mantra works: better hygiene leads to better productivity, which in turn leads to more dignity. Women are treated as social outcasts during menstruation. The usage of napkins, along with increased awareness, would lead women to productively use their time to contribute economically, or teach children. This would lead to increased dignity for women, and would help in reforming some of the dogmatic rules in their society. Action plan: Setting up 100 units for women SHG group and NGO’s in the rural areas . Cut of date Dec 15,2012 By this Creating not less than 5,000 sustainable rural lively hood for women Ending with hygiene improvement for a Million women shifted from unhygienic rag cloth using method to hygiene Sanitary napkin using method. Full Impact potential: Future plan (After Dec 31,2012) Making this achievement as a role model to make” India As 100% sanitary napkin using country by this we also achieve “A million rural employment for women”

Marché

The low penetration rate of sanitary napkin still persists not only because of the cost, but also because of the social stigma attached to menstruation. There are women who are willing and able to buy sanitary napkins, however, the issue of disposal often prevents them from doing so. In India, the waste disposal system is not fully developed, especially in rural areas, so trash is often dumped in the street. The lack of a proper disposal system does not allow women to use sanitary pads, as they are afraid that somebody, or some animals, will find their used pads. The current situation of the sanitary napkin industry and the social perception towards menstruation pose both opportunities and challenges. a) Overall (i) Social Innovation– To bring about social change in the rural population by converting the non users into users and sustain the newly converted users. (ii) Livelihood – To facilitate and promote BPL rural women to generate income through the production activity. b) Specific • Bring about an improvement in the general quality of life and to contribute to the improvement in health and hygiene status through a demand driven and community led approach towards total and sustained sanitation and hygiene improvement. • Promote hygiene education including menstrual hygiene, and other sanitary habits in all women by providing sanitary bins. • Encourage cost effective and appropriate technologies for ecologically safe and sustainable sanitation.