Innovation thrives in necessity

In all our families, at one time or the other, some family member or the other would have been bedridden, maybe for a week or month or longer – either due to a surgery, some unfortunate accident or old age. At that time, more than the inconvenience of either of us helping them relieve themselves, the sheer indignity which they suffered would have been hundred times so much more.

Saravanamuthu, a resident of Thalavaipuram in Tamil Nadu went through exactly the same thing. His wife underwent a major surgery and was bedridden for three months. Depending on him or the others to relieve herself was the biggest indignity which she faced. Most of us, go through it or get help to attend to the family member. But Saravanamuthu, a welder by profession, decided that his wife would not go through his.

He applied his mind and experience and he developed a bed with an attached toilet pot that helps a patient relieve herself without anyone’s assistance. The cot is fitted with a 12 V battery to operate two gear motors for moving the attached toilet pot vertically and sideways. He has also incorporated a remote-controlled flushing system for the pot, which makes it easy for the user to flush after use. It comes with a flush tank, a closet and a pipe connected to the septic tank. The patient can operate the toilet with the help of a remote. The buttons help them open the shutter and the closet as well as flushing the toilet. This invention worked and saved his wife from further embarrassment.

But this invention also worked for Saravanamuthu. A local newspaper covered his innovation and he got his first order in 2015 from a man in Chennai whose mother had been bedridden for six years. Gradually, as word got around, the requests for his invention increased. Financial constraint and lack of confidence in himself prevented him from taking on orders.

A few months later, he got an opportunity to speak to the former President of India, APJ Abdul Kalam, who motivated him to apply for the National Innovation Foundation, a government undertaking that helps strengthen technological innovations at the grassroots level. Saravanamuthu applied and he won! He received a trophy, a certificate and Rs 2 lakh from President Ram Nath Kovind along with a reimbursement of Rs 35,000 for making the prototype.

Since he won the award, he has been receiving orders from across the country with over 350 requests from Chennai alone. But due to financial constraints, he is not accepting further orders. Saravanamuthu has already started working on making an emission-less car and hopes to complete his project soon. To know more about his invention, you can call S.Saravanamuthu on this number: 9585475039.