NATIONAL MILK DAY & WHITE REVOLUTION IN INDIA
November 26 is celebrated as India’s National Milk Day. The day marks the birth anniversary of India’s most successful dairy entrepreneur Varghese Kurien, the founder of dairy firm Amul.
Verghese Kurien, who is known as the Father of White Revolution in India for his project Operation Flood, was born on November 26. This is why the day is known as National Milk Day across the country.
Known for his billion-litre idea, called the Operation Flood, which was the worl’d largest agricultural daily development programme that made dairy farming in India into the country’s largest self-sustaining industry and the largest rural employment provider.
Kurien is also the founder of the popular dairy brand Amul, that is based out of Anand, Gujarat, and this year we celebrate his 99th birth anniversary.
National Milk Day in India?———
Operation Flood programme was the most widely acknowledged successful developmental business models anywhere in the world . It created self-reliant business entities with strong brands such as AMUL, Mother Dairy & many more strong dairy brands in the country. Almost every state has a strong dairy brand under dairy cooperatives and now the producer companies. The operation programme was implemented by Dr Kurien, Founder Chairman , NDDB an organisation with national importance and international recognition. Today that small dusty town “Anand” is now known as the Milk CAPITAL of country.
He proved the fact one man can bring revolution only when ushers ray of hope and raise livelihood for millions by giving a system which is owned, managed & controlled by user members. His contribution made India self-reliant and became single largest milk producing nation in 1999. Today nearly 1.6 lakh villages with more than 1.2 billions members carrying on his dream and empowered vision for dairy business popularly known as THE TASTE OF INDIA. His birth day ( 26 November) is now celebrated as the NATIONAL MILK DAY. Truly a LEGEND – by choice.
Milk is also one of the commonest staples across the world, including in India. Oftentimes, our day often starts and ends with a glass of milk. Could you imagine Indian cuisine without ghee, butter, curd, buttermilk or paneer, or opening your front door in the morning and not finding a bottle of milk left next to the newspaper? As a country, today we are self-sufficient in milk. In fact, dairy farming is India’s largest self-sustaining industry. But in the 1950s, the situation was different and our country was dependent on imports to meet our dairy-related needs. Today, we owe our self-sufficiency to one man’s dogged efforts — Dr Verghese Kurien, the Father of India’s White Revolution. Dr Kurien’s “billion-litre-idea” helped India earn the reputation of the world’s largest agricultural dairy development programme. Every year on his birthday, November 26, India observes National Milk Day to commemorate his profound contribution to India’s progress. Here’s what you should know about the Milkman of India.
Early Years——–
Dr Kurien was born into an affluent Syrian Christian family in Calicut. Both his parents were accomplished individuals. His father was a civil surgeon in British Cochin. His mother too was highly educated and was adept at playing the piano.
During his younger days, he was known for his love for sports. Dr Kurien played cricket, badminton, boxing and tennis for his college during his days at Loyola.
After earning a distinction in mechanical engineering from America, he returned to Anand in Gujarat, where he was to work as an officer at the dairy division in return for his government scholarship.
A Hero For The People———
Dr Kurien’s story may sound something out of a Bollywood movie — an honest man fighting for the exploited against influential, avaricious people. During his time at Anand, he worked at grassroots to understand the grievances of the dairy farmers. He gauged that they were being exploited by the milk distributors, controlled by a shrewd businessman Pestonjee Edulji who marketed a brand of butter known as Polson.
He was moved by the struggles of the people, and even more so, by the perseverance of their leader, Tribhuvandas Patel who was waging a battle for the farmers. Dr Kurien joined Patel in the agitation and started the Milk Cooperative movement under Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union, known today as “Amul.”
Operation Flood——–
Dr Kurien’s efforts gave rise to Operation Flood, a programme that changed India’s status from a milk-deficient status to milk-sufficient. Launched in 1970, it gave dairy farmers autonomy over the milk production in the area. Over 700 towns and cities in India was linked by the National Milk Grid, bridging the gap between milk producers and consumers. The set up helped reduce seasonal and regional price variations, equally benefiting the dairy farmers and the consumers. Dr Kurien’s commitment to the cause helped increase milk production, increase rural incomes and present fair prices for consumers.
Manthan——–
Shyam Benegal made a movie, aptly titled Manthan (churning), on the struggles of the farmers and the success of Operation Flood. When the movie ran into financial troubles, it was Dr Kurien who found an ingenious way to fund it. After Toilet: Ek Prem Katha, Shree Narayan Singh to Make a Movie on Verghese Kurien.
Utterly-Butterly Delicious——
The mascot for Amul is the Amul girl, a wide-eyed, cherubic little girl dressed in a frock. Created by the DaCunha ad agency in Mumbai, the Amul girl is one of the most-recognised and much-loved cultural icon of India. When Dr Kurien approached the agency to create an ad campaign for Amul, he reposed a lot of faith in the experts. Unlike the nosy clients of today, Dr Kurien was known to be non-interfering in the creative aspects of the ad. For instance, when ad makers presented the slogan for Amul — Utterly Butterly Delicious, Dr Kurien replied: “I think it’s utterly mad; but if you think it’ll work, go ahead.”
His faith paid off. Even to this day, the jingle is unforgettable.
Personal Life and Death———
Dr Kurien got married to Susan Molly Peter in 1953 and had a daughter Nirmala Kurien. For his achievements, he was conferred with many accolades such as Ramon Magsaysay Award, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Krishi Ratna, World Food Prize, Padma Vibhushan, etc. He was also given 15 honorary doctorates from various universities from across the world.
Dr Kurien who was initially reluctant to work in a rural place like Anand, swore to live there as long as he lived. He even refused his daughter’s offer to live with her, saying Anand was his home and he will be forever working for its people. After a bout of illness, Dr Kurien passed away in September 2012.
Dr Kurien who was brought up a Christian became an atheist later in life. Due to his beliefs, he wasn’t given a Christian burial, but was cremated.
Some mindblowing facts about India’s dairy industry that will make you proud.
On this day, I am posting 10 interesting facts about dairy production in India:
- India is the world’s largest milk producing country, with 21 percent of total global production, followed by America, China, Pakistan and Brazil.
- Dairy is one of the biggest industries in India with over 10 million dairy farmers in around 100,000 co-operatives.
- India has a gross output of around Rs. 105,000 crore in the dairy industry.
- The country produces around 170 billion litres of milk per year with a 5.5 percent rise in demand every year.
- The estimated number of milch animals in India is around 300 million with buffaloes making 55% of the population
- Milk is the single largest crop in India in terms of wealth values .
