Subramanian, the ‘Gear Man of Coimbatore’ as he was affectionately called, and the founder of Shanthi Gears, and Shanti Social Service, a philanthropic trust engaged in free medical services for the needy, has been posthumously conferred with the Padma Shri. He passed away on December 11 last year.
Subramanian, or P Subramani, was a diploma graduate from PSG Polytechnic in the 1960s. He had then joined PSG Polytechnic as a lecturer in the late 1960s. While working there, he started a workshop to pursue his interest in machines. This pushed him to establish Shanthi Engineering and Trading Co in Coimbatore to manufacture small gears in 1969, as the machinery piqued his interest. In 1972, Subramanian converted it into a private company by name of Shanthi Gear Products (Private) Limited, which focussed on manufacturing gears to serve the textile sector. He grew the company into the largest in the gears sector by the 200os. This company went on to produce gears for industries such as power steel, and aviation. It was later acquired by the Murugappa group in 2012.
Following this, Subramanian shifted all of his energy into running Shanthi Social Service, a non-profit, charity trust that he cofounded in 1996. This trust helped in providing quality healthcare services free of cost to those in need, along with medicines, ambulance services and such. Lakhs of people have been benefited by this initiative, and a lot more still are reaping the fruits of this endeavour.
In addition to this, the foundation also runs a canteen which served free food to 300 senior citizens every day, apart from selling food for a nominal price for others. The foundation also runs a diagnostic centre, a blood bank, an eye-care centre, and an LPG crematorium. Subramanian worked tirelessly to keep the ‘gears’ running for this charity organisation, till his last breath in December.
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