'Pad Woman of India': NITI Aayog Honours Kerala's Anju Bist

She was one among the 75 women who were honoured by Centre's think tank with the award 'Women Transforming India'.

Anju Bist, a native of Kerala's Kollam has been recognised by NITI Aayog for the extraordinary work she put in creating sustainable and reusable menstrual pads.

(Photo: Altered by The Quint/ NITI Aayog)

Anju Bist, a native of Kerala's Kollam has recently been recognised by NITI Aayog for her extraordinary work in the creation of sustainable and reusable menstrual pads.

She was one among the 75 women who were honoured by the Centre's think tank with the award 'Women Transforming India', NITI Aayog said in a press statement.

Team 1st in World to Make Menstrual Pads Out of Banana Fibre

The New Indian Express reported that Anju and her team are the first in the world to create reusable menstrual pads out of banana fibre, that is sourced from agricultural waste.

Anju belongs to Amrita SeRVe, an organisation which manufactures and provides high-quality menstrual pads made of banana fiber and cotton cloth to women across India. The team has so far distributed over 5 lakh pads and thus helped in cutting down the annual emission of over 2,000 tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Their work has also reportedly helped prevent formation of 43,750 tonnes of non-biodegradable menstrual waste.

In 2013, when Mata Amritanandamayi Math adopted villages, Anju, who is also called as 'Pad Woman of India' was part of a team that went around remote villages across 21 states in India to develop sustainable practices. That is when the team came up with Saukhyam Reusable Pads scheme to provide eco-friendly and low cost menstrual pad alternatives to women, reported The New Indian Express.

The pads developed by the team have since won multiple awards and have also been recognised internationally. Besides being sold online, they are also exported to countries like USA, Germany, Kuwait, Spain, and UK. The organisation's ultimate aim is to make these pads available to women across all the remote and rural communities of the country at affordable prices.

(With inputs from The New Indian Express.)