Chennai: Menstrual hygiene is a topic that doesn’t get much attention. From her business of making pads, S Nagalakshmi, has set herself on a crusade to educate people about the need for menstrual hygiene. After having tried her hand at tailoring and garment business, Nagalakshmi started making and selling sanitary pads.
“Most women prefer napkins with wings, as they are comfortable, but in India, the machines to manufacture those are not available with small units like mine, so we do it manually,” she said. “Also, menstrual hygiene is not taken care of. The period of one week is when women should take utmost care as the accumulation of germs and bacteria leads to stomach pain and leg ache,” she added.
Using age-old formulae for relieving period pain and maintaining cleanliness, she makes pads using herbs.“I am going to get it patented,” she said. Nagalakshmi’s campaign is also against the use of plastic in sanitary napkins. “Crores of women use these pads, imagine the amount of plastic being dumped,” she exclaimed.
Eighteen years ago, Nagalakshmi, learned making pads for different purposes – be it for regular use, adult diapers, maternity pads, nappies, plastic free pads, and pads with wings. She went on to make herbal pads keeping in mind the age-old herbs to keep the genital area clean and infection-free.
Working with self help group (SHG) at her unit, she produces plastic-free pads as well. “These pads are made using self-adhesive paper that is biodegradable. Within six months of dumping, there won’t be a trace of these pads,” she said.
She started small from Gerugambakkam in Porur, but as the incoming orders for napkins expanded, opportunities for SHGs grew. “If we get huge orders, I involve other group members too, who get to earn money,” she said.
“I am totally involved in the work. The Women Development Corporation has been supporting us helping empower women with work and earning mone”. Right now, she markets none of her products. “I take government orders for the health department, which provide these pads through vending machines, and for private hospitals in Kanchipuram district and Chennai.”
