Corporate Citizenship

If corporate social responsibility is a yardstick to measure a company's commitment to improve society in an effective and sustainable manner, then TAFE is a trailblazer. For years before the term became the regular parlance of corporate conversations, TAFE had, with its empathetic founder Mr. S. Anantharamakrishnan, instilled a sense of caring and sharing at the very core of its business practice. The importance that ‘J’ - as he was affectionately called, placed on education, matched with his vision for affordable and quality healthcare; manifested in the Sri Paramakalyani hospital and school which became the edifice on which the Amalgamations Group and TAFE's CSR initiatives rested in the early 1960's and burgeoned thereafter.

His son, Mr. A. Sivasailam, former Chairman & Managing Director, TAFE, institutionalized and made these stellar initiatives sustainable by aligning them to the company's belief that it was not sufficient to just manufacture the finest agricultural machinery, but to proactively provide a range of services that improved the well-being of the farmer. JFarm with a focus on agriculture and adaptive research was thus born in 1964, pioneering new varieties of rice, mango, groundnuts, citrus fruits, and more recently, oilseeds and pulses, and a comprehensive organic range of rice, fruits and vegetables. It provides training to innumerable farmers in order to initiate and sustain a transformation from the individual farmer to his community, city and the nation at large. From investing in and developing sustainable models for the Sri Paramakalyani hospital and school projects and later at Chamraj in the Nilgiris; enhancing the research-driven initiatives of JFarm; starting and supporting the JRehab Centre that empowered orthopedically challenged women by including their contribution of creating wire harnesses in TAFE’s products. Mr. Sivasailam's contributions span almost 50 years of consistent effort, tireless dedication and unshakeable conviction that, only inclusive community development can lead to lasting prosperity and equitable growth.

Mallika Srinivasan, Chairman - TAFE, following her father and grandfather's illustrious footsteps, while focusing on the core areas of agriculture, healthcare and education, believes in the multiplier effect which, by working with non-governmental and governmental agencies, local communities and a range of other professional stakeholders, aims to lift vast cross-sections of society in a sea change of transformation. While drawing inspiration from and sustaining a generational legacy, she has actively aimed to extend the reach and resultant impact of several projects by incorporating digital and technological interventions. JFarm's extension to JFarm Rajasthan, the Digital India farm service initiative as well as the addition of newer projects - healthcare, particularly eye care and cancer care; projects that enable women's empowerment, conservation and tribal welfare as well as those that focus on the propagation and preservation of Indian art and culture - bear testimony to the manner in which the belief systems of TAFE have successfully stood the test of time; with each generation reiterating the importance of sowing seeds of knowledge, with compassion and far-sightedness, to sustainably Cultivating the World.