Verghese Kurien: The man behind White Revolution

He was instrumental in India becoming top milk producer

He showed the world what White Revolution is, and the strength of the co-operative sector.

Almost six decades ago, when Verghese Kurien dumped a government job and joined a small time dairy co-operative at Anand in  Gujarat at three times less his salary, nobody would have imagined that the US-trained metallurgical engineer was laying the foundation for a strong co-operative movement in the country, which will be remembered for centuries to come.

Born on November 26, 1921, in Kozhikode, Kerala , he graduated in Physics from Loyola College, Madras, in 1940. Subsequently, he did his B E (Mechanical) from Madras University and went to the US on a government scholarship to pursue his master’s in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University. In between, he completed special studies in engineering at Tata Iron and Steel Company Institute at Jamshedpur, Bihar, in February 1946 and underwent a nine-month specialised training in dairy engineering at the National Dairy Research Institute of Bangalore.

He returned from America in 1948 and joined the dairy department of the Central government. In May 1949, he was posted as the dairy engineer at the Government Research Creamery, a small milk-powder factory, in Anand, Gujarat. Around this time, the newly formed co-operative dairy, Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited (KDCMPUL), was engaged in a battle of survival with the privately owned Polson Dairy, which was a giant in its field. Enthused by the challenge,  Kurien left his government job and volunteered to help Tribhuvandas Patel,  KDCMPUL chairman, to set up a processing plant. This effort of his led to the birth of Amul.

From a few hundred litres a day to 90 lakh litres, the co-operative grew from strength to strength under him, building one of the most respected brands, Amul.

Such is the prowess of the Amul revolution led by Kurien that the World Bank had identified the model as the key component to fight poverty. With his dedication and focussed approach, Kurien turned Amul into a Rs 10,000-crore turnover co-operative as against Rs 1,000 crore in early 90s.

Women’s role

Kurien strongly believed that women could be the key partners in business development. Not surprising then a majority of co-operative members are women.

He  was also applauded for introducing some of the best international technology and practices in Amul. It was his efforts which put the Indian milk industry on world map. It was during Kurien’s stint in the sector that India developed best technology and practices during “Operation Flood” in 1971.

Some of the accolades he won include the Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1963), Padma Shri (1965), Padma Bhushan (1966), Krishi Ratna Award (1986), Wateler Peace Prize Award of Carnegie Foundation (1986), World Food Prize Laureate (1989), International Person of the Year(1993) by the World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wisconsin, USA, and Padma Vibhushan (1999).

Popularly known as the milkman of India, Kurien also went through some difficult moments during the last decade of his work at the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation. He was compelled to resign by the board members in 2006.

President, Prime Minister pay tributes

Verghese Kurien was on Sunday hailed as an iconic figure who transformed India and “touched us all” as President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh led the nation in paying glowing tributes to the father of country’s “White Revolution,” reports PTI from New Delhi.

Mukherjee recalled Kurien’s enormous contributions to the fields of agriculture, rural development and dairying.

Vice-President M Hamid Ansari said Kurien was credited with being the architect of the largest diary development programme in the world— Operation Flood.

“He engineered the White Revolution in India and made India the largest milk producer of the world. He is recognised as the man behind the success of the Amul brand,” he said.