NAVATHI CELEBRATION OF VARGHESE KURIEN, FATHER OF WHITE REVOLUTION

NAVATHI CELEBRATION OF VARGHESE KURIEN, FATHER OF WHITE REVOLUTION

 

Father of white revolution Verghese Kurien, who led 'Operation Flood' to make India the biggest milk producing nation in the world, celebrated his 90th birthday Saturday,26^th November,2011.. Hundreds of people associated with Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation, led by chairman Parthi Bhatol and Managing Director R S Sodhi, visited Kurien's house here to wish him good health and long life. When asked for his message on the occasion, Kurien said, "My message is to carry on the movement." Born in Calicut, Kerala, on November 26, 1921, he graduated from Loyola college in Madras and did his BE from university of Madras. He later went to US on a government scholarship to earn his Master of Science in Mechanical engineering from Michigan university. After his return, he joined Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited in 1949, which was formed at the initiative of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel.

Patel later asked Kurien to help set up a dairy processing plant, which saw the birth of Amul. Amul's co-operative model became a success and it was replicated throughout Gujarat. The different dairy unions were later brought under the banner of Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation. Kurien is also credited to be the first one to produce powder from buffalo milk, when elsewhere in the world, cow milk was used to produce milk powder. Impressed by the success of Amul, then Prime Minister Lalbahadur Shastri established the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to replicate the Amul model across the country and Kurien was made its chairman. NDDB launched 'Operation Flood' in 1970, making India the largest milk producer in the world. He served as chairman of NDDB for 33 years from 1965 to 1998. Today over 10 million farmers under NDDB provide over 20 million litres of milk a day to 200 dairy co-operatives across the country. Interestingly, the 'milkman' of India does not consume milk himself. He says, "I do not drink milk as I don't like it." 

                                                              Prof. John Kurakar