mid-day's 42nd anniversary: Handy saviour

Roshini Sanah Jaiswal 54The force behind Just Human a 24hour sanitiser that claims to provide allday protection with just one applicationRoshini Sanah Jaiswal hails from a family of entrepreneurs Her grandfather LP Jaiswal launched Jagatjit Industries in 1944 under the patronage of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala to generate employment in Punjab ldquoThe distillery was so large that for many years it remained the largest distillery in Asia making portable alcoholrdquoAristocrat Whiskey positioned itself as a tipple for those seeking finer pleasures in life Its TVC with the tagline Kuchh Bhi Ho Sakta Hai was voted the advertisement of the decade by the Confederation of Indian Alcoholic Beverage Companies in 2000That anything can happen is evident in Jaiswalrsquos foray into healthcare with her venture Swanrose Inc The Coronavirus outbreak prompted the Indian government to list sanitisers and masks as essential commodities to ensure steady availability and prevent black marketing Stepping up to the need Jaiswal created Just Human which she claims is a 24hour hand sanitiser that provides allday protection with just one application She says that even after multiple hand washes the efficacy remains the same The company began by supplying the Punjab government with 5000 litres of sanitisers as part of a CSR initiative Currently the product is being shipped across the country ldquoThe idea of Just Human came about when we realised the limitations of the common alcoholbased sanitisers which we ourselves were producing along with large companies across the world All alcoholbased sanitisers evaporate in 30 seconds which means you need to use them several times a day They leave your hands battered and people get paranoid if they forget to use it All in all it was just highly inconvenient limiting and toxicrdquo says Jaiswal who lived in Mumbai for 12 years before making Delhi her homeThey decided to revisit and reimagine a formulation that was developed over 30 years ago Jaiswal says Just Human contains two specialised compounds that work together on a nano level One compound has 70 per cent ethanol as recommended by the CDC and WHO which kills germs and viruses instantly The other an antimicrobial compound forms a bionic shield made of nontoxic molecules that bind to your hand and provide a protective coating ldquoThis molecule has been nanoengineered to pierce the cell walls of any microorganism thereby instantly killing it Once the sanitiser dries these compounds bind themselves to the surface of the hand providing a layer of active protection that as lab testing shows lasts 24 hours In the past they have been used in disinfectants and stronger cosmetic formulationsrdquo she claims The distillery background was the starting point for Swanrose ldquoAlso the fact that I come from this background allowed a startup like mine to lean on the Jagatjit corporate structure which became a great enablerrdquo The fledgling company struck gold within months of its launch clocking a revenue of 22 million Jaisal attributes the success to their agility in moving quickly by setting up supply chains across countries ldquoMy YPO Young Presidentsrsquo Organisation network in the US enabled us to quickly establish credibility and trust with customersrdquo The 24hour efficacy is backed by GLP Good Laboratory Practice Lab certification and has received US FDA Food and Drug Administration registration and DCGI Drugs Controller General of India clearance in IndiaThere were challenges along the way ldquoStarting in the midst of a pandemic not being able to travel and having to forge partnerships across the world virtually has its own drawbacks Fundraising takes an inordinate amount of timerdquo What makes all of it worthwhile says Jaiswal is the sentiment behind the setup ldquoIrsquove launched it with the same passion to serve the people that my grandfather harboured when he launched the distilleryrdquo