INDIA ON THE TOP OF MILK MAP
Dr. D. N. Mohanty, A veterinarian
India is the land of Gods as we often name it as ‘Dev Bhumi‘. Lord Sri Rama Chandra and Lord Sri Krishna – incarnations of God were born here several millenniums ago. It is the land of Goutam Budha – the enlightened one, the birth place of great sages like Valmiki, warriors and disciples of peace like Ashoka – the Great, Holy men Guru Nanak Ji, Sri Chaitanya Dev, the infidel Salabeg – a devout devotee of Lord Jagannath, Sri Ram Krushna Paramhans Dev and his disciple Swami Vivekanda, freedom fighters Mahatma Gandhi and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, poet Kavi Guru Rabindranath Tagore, renowned philosopher S. Radhakrishnan, statesman like Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel, Lal Bahadur Shastri, and Morarjibhai Desai, eminent scientists Sir C. V. Raman, Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose, atomic scientists Homi Bhava and Satish Dhawan, missile man Dr. A.P. J. Abdul Kalam, and agricultural scientist M. S. Swaminathan, father of ‘Green Revolution’ and the ‘Milk man of India’ Dr. Verghese Kurien, who ushered ‘White Revolution’ in India to name a few. All were all born great to change our destiny. It is a prelude to the topic to follow. We shall talk about ‘White Revolution’ and the men behind it to put India on world map of dairy industry with AMUL brand to transform the lives of millions of rural dairy farmers.
India once had the legacy of being the richest country but was invaded and plundered to become one of the poorest in the world. India once considered as a ‘land of honey and money’ had become a famished one overtime. It was we may put it, the cruel joke of destiny. But no one can a chain a lion for long. With resilience and will to develop and reach the pinnacle of success has been the motto of India. An impoverished and famished country has scaled many land marks since August, 1947 – one of them is milk production. Agriculture being the mainstay of livelihood of vast majority of people in pre-independence days and decades that followed, most smallholder and marginal farmers lived a somewhat drudgery life. Many of them depended upon few heads of cows as sources of additional income. By and large similar situation prevailed in many states across the country and the condition in Odisha was particularly worse. At this time two angels descended on Mother India. They were God send. Dr. M.S. Swaminathan (7 August, 1925 – 20 September, 2023) and Dr. Verghese Kurien (26 November, 1921 – 9 September, 2012) – both revolutionized the agricultural farming system. While Swaminathan was an agronomist and geneticist, Kurien was an engineer to become a true dairyman.
Dr. Kurien, from Kerala, being a visionary, social entrepreneur and revolutionary led the initiatives to extensively increase the milk production first in his adopted ‘karma bhumi’ Gujarat. Initially he was deputed by the Government of India to start a creamery at Anand in Kaira district where he set up Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producer’s Union Limited. He laid the foundation of Anand Milk Union Limited at Anand (AMUL). The brand name AMUL has now become household name in India. We may coin AMUL TRADE MARK as AMULYA, meaning ‘precious’ or priceless, competing in international market with the best in the business. AMUL trade image ‘The Taste of India’ is perhaps the best to showcase the pride of India. It has touched the soul of India. Look at its impact. It went into cricketing arena to play the most popular game ‘TWENTY TWENTY’. How could it have happened without a visionary like Dr. Kurien, the technical and marketing strategist of AMUL and one the architects of federative system of dairy development? Such men are born once in a generation. The corner stone of Dr. Kurien’s life was his association with Tribhuvandas Patel, bedrock and father of cooperative movement in Gujarat. It was like ‘Sone pey Suhaga’. Earlier Tribhuvandas had started working under the guidance of Sardar Patel. Their association transformed Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd., into Gujarat Milk Producers Cooperative Societies Limited. It became the model for other states in India. The motto was ‘WE’ not ‘I’ and farmers together to promote welfare of rural India where most people live. Let me quote the famous lines of blind Santha (Saint) poet Bhima Bhoi of Odisha inscribed on the walls of the United Nations Organisation ‘’witnessing the plethora of plights on earth how one could bear with; let the world get redeemed at my cost’’. Neither Tribhuvandas nor Kurien had known the Saint poet perhaps it was the God’s wish that these famous lines might have become the innate philosophy of their lifelong mission.
Dairy Cooperative Movement became an engine for rural development in India with Goumaata (buffaloes included) at the centre stage culminating in welfare of farmers and their economic growth. Dr. Kurien was a workaholic and his style of functioning was unique. He was not a BOSS but a colleague to one and all under him. There was a notion that buffalo milk could not be converted into milk powder. Perseverance and ingenuity of Dr. Kurien dispelled this myth once for all when milk powder rolled out to the market from AMUL factory. Late Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri visited Anand and spent a night with a farmer’s family to the horror of Dr. Kurien. However, everything ended well for AMUL and its mentor. Later came up National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with Dr. Kurien as its first chairman. A cine film in Hindi Manthan – The Churning of 1976- the success story of AMUL produced and directed by late Shyam Benegal being inspired by the pioneering work of Dr. Kurien, was an epitome of success story of milk cooperatives. It is said dairy cooperative societies contributed and raised the money for production of the film starring late Smita Patil and late Girish Karnard in the lead roles.
In the screenplay in which Karnard plays the role of Dr. Rao, a veterinarian who intends to commence a dairy cooperative society for betterment of the rural people which is now the key word of every government under livestock sector. Seldom do we find public acclaim afforded to the veterinarians ever since. It is now 48 years since a popular film was produced and screened. The veterinarian in Manthan was a multipurpose man. He was their mentor, friend, philosopher and guide and was an obstetrician during delivery of child of a pregnant woman. We should feel proud of Dr. Kurien on the auspicious occasion of World Milk Day on 1st June and the veterinarians alike who play a signature role though go unsung and unrecognized by the society and the government. Three cheers my friends. Finally for the contribution of Dr. VERGHESE KURIEN as the MILKMAN of India and father of WHITE REVOLUTION he was conferred Padma Bibhusan. He should have been conferred BHARAT RATNA that he was.
Email Id. dnmohanty2018@gmail.com
Dr. D. N. Mohanty,
Plot No.1215’1654,
Khandagiri Bari, Bhubaneswar –_751 030
Dr. Simanta Kumar Nanda, Joint Director of Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services (Animal Welfare), Odisha.
