Anju Bist of Amrita SeRVe (Saukhyam Reusable Pad) and Aardra Chandra Mouli of Aeka Biochemicals Pvt. Ltd. from the State are among the 75 women honoured as ‘Women Transforming India’ by the NITI Aayog.
The NITI Aayog has instituted the ‘Women Transforming India’ awards to recognise the achievements of women across sectors in transforming India into a Sashakt Aur Samarth Bharat. This year, as part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’ to celebrate 75 years of India’s independence, the awards were conferred on 75 women achievers.
Anju Bist of Kollam and her team make reusable menstrual pads from banana fibre, which comes from agro-waste. Saukhyam Reusable Pads have won multiple awards and are sold internationally. The team’s vision is that the high-quality pad they export should be made available at very affordable prices in rural areas of India. To date, they have sold and distributed over five lakh pads, helping to prevent the emission of over 2,000 tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent annually. This has also helped eliminate an estimated 43,750 tonne of non-biodegradable menstrual waste.
Aardra Chandra Mouli is a biotech engineer, entrepreneur, and an entrepreneurship researcher. She is the founder and managing director of Aeka Biochemicals Pvt. Ltd., an environmental biotech company based here.
Aeka Biochemicals helps to incorporate greener options in everyday life in the form of user-friendly, effective products, be it in urban cultivation, water treatment, recycling, remediation, or waste management, thus making a significant contribution towards reducing the human footprint on Earth. Aardra is passionate about making science and entrepreneurship accessible to all those interested in these fields, especially women.
