'My nomination was accepted in...': Real-life 'PadMan' nominated for Nobel Peace Prize 2026

Social entrepreneur Arunachalam Muruganantham, known as the 'PadMan', has claimed that he has been listed as a nominee for the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Muruganantham, a social activist from Tamil Nadu, is known for introducing low-cost sanitary pads to villages in India. He also inspired the Akshay Kumar-starrer PadMan, directed by R Balki and featuring Radhika Apte and Sonam Kapoor. The film was released in 2018 and went on to win the National Film Award for Best Film on Other Social Issues.

Speaking about the development, Muruganantham told news agency ANI, "I couldn't believe it at first... For the Nobel Prize, you cannot submit your name, nor can your friends or family. It has to be a third party... A Dean from Aravind Eye Hospital of Pondicherry and American teams working there submitted my name for the Nobel... It was accepted within 24 hours... I'm really proud..."

The Nobel Peace Prize nomination process is described as an eight-month screening and decision-making process.

As per the official website, "The five-member Norwegian Nobel Committee is the decision-makers. It meets regularly from the latter half of February, goes meticulously through all nominations, and selects those which it want to consider more carefully. The selected candidates are then assessed by independent experts, who prepare detailed reports that are circulated to the committee ahead of its meetings. This is an iterative process, where the list gradually is shortened, and new assessments are solicited in each round. The Committee may, at any stage, reach back and reconsider candidates not shortlisted, as long as there is a valid nomination. By summer, the shortlist is normally cut down to a handful of candidates."

In 2025, the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Maria Corina Machado "for her tireless work promoting democratic rights for the people of Venezuela and for her struggle to achieve a just and peaceful transition from dictatorship to democracy".

Muruganantham's claim about his nomination has drawn attention to his work in making low-cost sanitary pads available in villages in India, while also bringing focus to the Nobel Peace Prize nomination process and its screening procedure.