How a group of government school students in Haryana built a menstrual wellness solution

A group of government school students from Haryana has developed a menstrual wellness solution after observing how period pain was disrupting the daily lives of girls in their school, causing absenteeism, discomfort, and difficulty focusing in class.

Built through the Kushal Business Challenge, a Haryana government-led school entrepreneurship programme, Her Ease was conceptualised by Pallavi Kaswan, Pritam Suthar, Anand Bansal, and Neha Loura, students of Aarohi Model Senior Secondary School in Hisar. 

The Kushal Business Challenge is run under Samagra Shiksha and implemented by government teachers in all government schools.

At the heart of Her Ease’s innovation is a specially designed bag that combines a portable heating pouch, natural herbal remedies, and dedicated storage, enabling girls and women to discreetly and conveniently manage menstrual discomfort while going about their daily routine with greater ease and confidence. 

The product range comprises Comfort Pro, which comes with an office bag, a rechargeable heating pouch, an Ayurvedic herbal mix, and cramp relief oil; Comfort Plus, designed for students, has a school bag, a rechargeable heating pouch, cramp relief oil, and an Ayurvedic herbal mix; and Comfort Lite, a basic offering that contains a school bag with a heating pouch. 

The Kushal Business Challenge encourages students to identify real-world problems, develop practical solutions, and test their ideas in market environments through experiential learning. The programme is implemented in partnership with Udhyam Learning Foundation, which has supported similar entrepreneurship initiatives across 12 states, reaching over 4.7 million students, engaging more than 50,000 teachers and 100-plus mentors since 2017.

As the technical and programme partner of the challenge, Udhyam designed the curriculum in partnership with Haryana SCERT, supported teacher training, and built dashboards to track the progress of all students in the programme across all schools.  

Potential of student-led entrepreneurship

SocialStory spoke to the students behind Her Ease—the team calls itself Innovative Minds—and Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam Learning Foundation,  to understand how classroom observation evolved into a practical menstrual wellness solution and what it reveals about the potential of student-led entrepreneurship. 

“I think what makes the Kushal Business Challenge interesting is what it’s actually asking students to do. Not to study entrepreneurship, but to find a real problem—something they’ve seen at home, in school, in their mohalla—and build a practical solution to it. The government backing that kind of programme, at this scale, inside schools, is revolutionary. 1,18,000 students, 5,000 teachers, 100-plus mentors,” says Maheshwari.

And that’s precisely what Innovative Minds set out to do.

The initial idea was to design a functional school bag with GPS. 

“But we turned this to women’s health when we realised that it needed greater attention because menstrual cramps can be uncomfortable and cause girls to miss school. We thought of having a heating pad in a hidden pouch inside the school for use whenever required,” Pallavi explains. She leads overall project planning and decision-making, coordinates team activities, and represents the team during presentations and stakeholder interactions. 

The idea took root in July last year and was approved by the teachers. 

The students’ research in Hisar indicated that nearly 70% of women experienced menstrual pain, and there was a growing demand for natural, portable remedies that can be used discreetly during women’s daily routine. 

With more than 355 million menstruating women in India, the students identified a significant unmet need for accessible menstrual comfort solutions. 

They presented it at Hisar ITI at an entrepreneurship programme where they came second. Soon, Her Ease saw success in block, district, and state-level challenges. They won Rs 1 lakh as seed money from the Kushal Business Challenge, enough to work on converting their idea into a business.

“Managing period cramps through a school day is something a lot of girls deal with quietly, without much support. The same applies to women in the workplace. Yet, it’s not something most people think to design around. These students created a product that offers dignity for the women using it, with empathy toward the pain they experience every month while still going about their day-to-day work,” says Maheshwari.

He continues, “The solution itself is a heating pad built into a school bag—functional, wearable, practical. The team went through multiple iterations, thinking and problem-solving about whether it would actually be safe to use and whether it would work in a real school setting. They also paid a lot of attention to design and aesthetic appeal.”

The bags and heating pouches are manufactured by third-party suppliers based on designs provided by the team.

The products are priced between Rs 549 and Rs 899, which they believe is in the affordable range. Their target audience is girls and women aged 15-28. They will be available on Amazon next month.

As a market researcher, Neha conducts market research to understand customer needs, analyse menstrual health challenges, identify target customers, and gather insights to refine the product. 

“We are presenting the products at schools and colleges. We launched in December 2025 but had to take a break to prepare for our 12th board exams. So far, we have sold 15 products to early customers and have received 20 additional pre-orders. Positive feedback from users appreciating the product’s usefulness and innovation has been encouraging,” she says.

Also part of Innovative Minds are two boys, Pritam, who oversees manufacturing, and Anand, who manages the financial aspects of the venture. 

“Initially, people asked me why I was joining a menstrual solutions team. But later, people understood that we were solving a real-life challenge,” says Pritam. 

He manages marketing strategies, promotes the product through social media and outreach, identifies potential customers, and supports branding and communication. 

Anand is in charge of finance, tracks orders, and looks after expenses and revenue. 

“It feels good to be part of this team and understand all about running a business,” he says. 

All the team members will join colleges this year. But this, they say, will not slow down the pace of scaling Her Ease. 

“We will make sure that each member allocates a few hours every day to his/her role in the business. Our plan is to scale, and we need to dedicate all our efforts towards it,” says Pallavi. 

The team is in talks with the manufacturers of the Asan Menstrual Cup regarding possible funding. The members are also looking forward to attending the World Student Summit in July this year to present their startup and attract investment.

“Next year, we want to expand our market to pan-India, and then take it to the international market,” says Pallavi.