Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed

Mecca Rafeeque Ahmed is an Indian businessman and entrepreneur from Tamil Nadu. He is a recipient of 2011 Padma Shri Award.[1]

Career

Ahmed's father, Haji Mecca Abdul Majid Sahib, started the Farida Prime Tannery in 1957. He named it after the youngest of his nine daughters and started it with Rs. 1.5 million from his savings and bank loans.[2] Rafeeque Ahmed started his career in 1958 and took over full control of the business after his father's demise in 1965. Under his guidance, the Farida Group has grown from a tannery to many shoemaking and tannery divisions.[2] He was instrumental in diversifying the business by starting shoe-upper making factories in the late 1960s and then establishing full-shoe making factories in the 1980s. He became chairman of the farida group in the year 1996.

Social service

The company Farida Group has a presence in Vellore district and has created thousands of jobs for the locals. They process about 80,000 sq. feet of hide and manufacture about 23,000 pairs of shoes and 3,500 pairs of shoe-uppers per day. They employ nearly 9,000 people.[2] They also provide educational scholarships for deserving students, medical assistance for the poor and environment-friendly process initiatives.

Personal life

Born to businessman Mecca Abdul Majeed from Ambur, Rafeeque Ahmed has also named one function hall in Ambur after his mother - "Buwa".

Awards and honours

Mecca Rafeeq Ahmed is a recipient of the 2011 Padma Shri Award, India's fourth-highest civilian award.[3] He was also been awarded an honorary degree by Hindustan Institute of Technology & Science in 2017.[4]

References
  1. "Nageswara Rao, Ahluwalia, Shashi Kapoor, Girish Kasaravalli among Padma awardees". The Hindu. 26 January 2011. Retrieved 26 January 2011.
  2. Subhashini, Sen. "Best Foot Forward". Outlook Business. Archived from the original on 8 February 2015. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  3. "M. Rafeeque Ahmed gets Padma Shri Award". Milligazette. Retrieved 23 September 2014.
  4. "Doctorate for Farida Group chief Rafeeq Ahmed". Futurefootwear. Retrieved 7 October 2017.
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