Padman of Odisha: Hrudananda’s Comfort Kit for Menstruating Women

Padman of Odisha: Hrudananda’s Comfort Kit for Menstruating Women

At 24, Hrudananda Prusty has already made a difference in society by celebrating
menstruation with his innovative project ‘Preeti’. When societal norms dictate menstruating
women to be isolated and shunned, this young engineer has come up with a sanitary pad kit
that will be made available for women in toilets. Apart from pads, the kit has sanitizer, tissue, and cotton.

An engineer from a small village in Tolokani of Jajpur, Hrudananda came up with his
initiative after witnessing the difficulties of menstruating women while travelling. During his
college days, he saw his female friends facing issues during their periods but remained tongue-
tied due to the prevailing taboos around menstruation. Moved by their plight, he decided to
improve their situation and project ‘Preeti’ was born.

Hrudananda proposes to install these kits in public toilets, schools, colleges, bus stands and
railway stations. “During travel or while away from home, menstruating girls and women face a
lot of problems. If this project is implemented in every public toilet, women will not face any
difficulties. The painful cramps and psychological woes during this time of the month cause
inconvenience for women. This is a small step to ease their pain. It will also be helpful in
maintaining cleanliness and sanitation,” he said. Emphasizing on providing clean water in
toilets, Hrudananda has submitted a blueprint of his project to the World Health Organisation
panelists in New Delhi and the Department of Health and Family Welfare.

Hrudananda is spiritual and credits all his success to God. “It is rightly said that man proposes
and God disposes. This has been the case in all my endeavours. I am not the kind of person
who publicizes all his plans. I tend not to be vocal about my goals until I have achieved it. My
parents are aware of this and hence, have been supportive and encouraging,” he informed. His
father Hemanta Prusty is a government employee and his mother Asharani is a home-maker.
The engineer also credits his sister Soubhagya Laxmi for being his guiding light and brightening
up his dull days.

Appreciating the role of women in his life, Hrudananda said they are the epitome of strength,
love, sacrifice and courage. Indian culture attaches great importance to women. The role of
women in today’s world has changed significantly. From homemakers to mothers, students to
teachers, IAS officers to cops, innovators to scientists, sports personalities to creative artists,
nurses to doctors, women have excelled in every field. “A graceful woman derives strength from
troubles, smiles when in distress and grows even stronger with prayers and hope. I wish each
girl and woman out there a very happy Women’s Day. Not just today but every day is yours,”
Hrudananda added.

After completing his B.Tech in Metallurgy and Metals Engineering from Veer Surendra Sai
University of Technology (VSSUT), Burla, Hrudananda is currently working as an Assistant
Engineer in Jindal, Bengaluru. He juggles between his job and his passion to help people.
Despite his hectic office hours, he manages to find time for his NGO initiatives with support from student volunteers. 

Hrudananda extended a helping hand to the needy when the world came to a standstill due to
the Covid-19 lockdown. From providing free online tutorials to schoolchildren to reaching out to
the deprived sections of the society, he launched various initiatives to ease the suffering of
people stuck in the lockdown. With help of a group of VSSUT students, he launched ‘Unlock
Education’ to ensure that children are not deprived of classroom teaching. Similarly through
‘Unlock Smiles’, his team organized blood donation and health camps besides providind aid and
assistance to orphanages. Since all his ventures commenced in the lockdown period, he named
them as ‘Unlock’. He has also penned a magazine ‘Frontline Warriors, Flaring to Return the
Spark of Hope’ to honour the Covid Warriors. The magazine was released out August 27 last
year.

My City Links wishes more success for Hrudananda in his future endeavours.