He had the dream of making the country self-sustained in milk production. He had a dream of improving the life of hundreds of thousands of marginalized dairy farmers in the country. He had a dream of making a co-operative so powerful that even corporates can’t compete with it. He was the Milkman of India. He was Dr Verghese Kurien.
Dr Verghese Kurien was born on 26 November, 1921 in Calicut, Madras (now in Kerala). He graduated in Physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940 and then obtained his Bachelors in mechanical engineering from the University of Madras. After completing his degree, he joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute, Jamshedpur from where he graduated in 1946. He soon went to US for higher studies. There he studied dairy engineering from Michigan State University, as this was the only course which had scholarship left. He came back to India in May 1949 and was appointed at the Government of India’s dairy in Anand, Gujarat. Thus began a journey that would change the course of life for millions in coming years.
As Dr Kurien was from South India and savoured non-veg, he didn’t got many friends in Gujarat initially. People didn’t want him to stay in their homes, so he spent many a night in garage. He even made up his mind to quit the job, but Tribhuvandas Patel (the leader of local milkman’s co-operative who later shared Magsaysay award with Dr. Kurien) convinced him to stay. Tribhuvandas played an instrumental role in making the co-operative against the exploitation of farmers in Anand. In 1946, there was only one dairy (Polson) in Anand and it had all the rights. The milkmen had to carry milk several kilometres and were paid very little. This milk was then sent to Bombay. Seeing the plight of farmers, Tribhuvandas Patel and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel opened up a farmer’s co-operative and farmers refused to work under monopoly of Polson. Due to their efforts, milk production was decentralized. It was this co-operative that Tribhuvandas wanted Dr Kurien to manage.
So, Dr Kurien left the government job and joined Kaira Milk Union. The first step in self-sustenance was to compete with global players in milk production. But there was a problem. To make powdered milk, cow milk was used. But, India didn’t had much cows. Instead there were plenty of buffaloes in the country. So Dr Kurien along with H. M. Dalaya invented the process of making condensed milk from buffalo’s milk. This was the first in the world. This gave Indian dairy farmers an opportunity to compete with global players. The Anand model became successful and Kaira Milk Union started a brand named AMUL in 1955. With the success of Amul in Anand, several such models started emerging from many parts of Gujarat. Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then prime minister of India, was so impressed with the success of amul that he created National Dairy Development Board and asked Dr Kurien to replicate the model all over India in 1964. Dr Kurien was made the chairman of NDDB. This was the foundation stone for Operation Flood or White Revolution of India.
Over the next 2 and half decades, this movement became the largest milk movement in the world. In the process Amul became the world’s largest producer of milk products and India the largest producer of milk. Today, India produces more than 116 million litres of milk per year. There are more than 70,000 dairy co-operatives in the country. Amul has a turnover of more than $2.5 billion and employs more than 3.1 million dairy farmers. Amul has also entered in markets of Mauritius, UAE, USA, Oman, Bangladesh, Australia, China, Singapore, Hong Kong and a few South African countries, making it a global brand. All thanks to the efforts and vision of one man.
Dr Kurien passed away on 9th September 2012 due to failing health. He was 90. In his lifetime, he was awarded with several honours. Most prominent of them being Magsaysay Award, World Food Prize and Padma Vibhushan. He will always be remembered as the man who transformed the milk deficient economy to the county abundant in utterly, butterly, delicious milk! He was one of the pioneers of Indian economy who made its foundations rock solid. Yes, he too had a dream and he achieved it! Amul girl is weeping today due to the loss of this great soul. We are proud of you Dr Kurien. RIP.