The Tatas, a history of nation building
on J N Tata's birth anniversary
In this day & age, it is fashionable for businesses to do ESG work and contribute to society. In India, companies try to make a virtue of the forced CSR contributions and claim that they contribute to society & nation building.
One of the things that fascinate me about the Tatas and (JN Tata, Dorabji Data & JRD Tata) in particular is that they were leaders and well ahead of their time in the cause of society. It is rare to find any other group that had consistently built institutions through multiple generations with the same passion as they went about Business.
"While many others worked on loosening the chains of slavery and hastening the march towards the dawn of freedom, Tata dreamed of and worked for life as it was to be fashioned after liberation. Most of the others worked for freedom from a bad life of servitude; Tata worked for freedom for fashioning a better life of economic independence." —Dr Zakir Hussain, the former president of India on J N Tata (from wikipedia)
Here are a few notable public institutions built by the Tatas, some of these no longer have the Tata branding:
City of Jamshedpur - This first planned city in India, founded in 1919. It set the trend that if you want industrial towns, they need to come with elaborate city level infrastructure to enable its citizens to live in comfort.
"Be sure to lay wide streets planted with shady trees, every other of a quick-growing variety. Be sure that there is plenty of space for lawns and gardens. Reserve large areas for football, hockey and parks. Earmark areas for Hindu temples, Mohammedan mosques and Christian churches." —J N Tata in a letter to son Dorab about his vision for the township that would eventually become Jamshedpur (from wikipedia)
Indian Institute of Science - JN Tata conceived of the initial plan and setup a committee to setup the institute which the Wodeyars and the Government also participated in. Dorabji Tata gave a large financial grant to expand on his Father’s contribution. IISc got us our first Nobel (through Sir. C V Raman)
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research - Setup in 1945 by JRD Tata as a research institute focused on Fundamental Sciences & research
Tata Memorial Centre for Cancer Research & Treatment - Asia’s first Cancer treatment facility setup in 1941
New India Assurance Company - First General insurance company in India, founded by Dorabji Tata in 1919 and later nationalised in 1973
Air India (Tata Airlines) - Tata airlines was India’s first commercial airline setup in 1932 and later nationalised in 1953. Fittingly this airline has come back to Tata fold now and is already doing much better than its bureaucrat run days.
That’s an impressive list of institutions that they have built!
This post was triggered by a tweet from IISc celebrating JN Tata’s anniversary as Founders day!
