Remembering Verghese Kurien the 'Milkman of India’ for White Revolution brought by Amul

Padman Vibushan awardee Verghese Kurien is known as the 'milkman of India' who would have turned hundred on November 26, 2021. Known for transforming the country's dairy farming with the largest rural employment sector providing a third of exhaustive rural income and creating a self-sustaining industry, Kurien emerged to be referred to as the 'Father of White Revolution'. He is responsible for what is now a USD 5.3 billion turnover dairy enterprise owned by 3.6 million farmers nationwide. 

India's largest food product organisation, Amul made the country the world's largest milk producer by 1998, doubled the milk quotient made available to each person and increased milk output four-fold in 30 years. Notably, the development same against a recently liberalised economy that had opened up markets for multinational companies but Kurien made sure they were at bay.

In addition, Kurien, who hailed from an affluent Syrian family in Kerala, made the country self-sufficient in edible oils and took over the dominance of underhanded 'oil kings' in the oilseed industry. He established the dairy cooperative- Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited, popularly known as Amul Dairy in Anand in Gujarat, in the year 1950. 

Amul's founder Verghese Kurien 'Father of White Revolution'

Pioneering the Anand model of dairy cooperatives and replicating it countrywide, Kurien set up Amul based on various approaches. Primarily, the Cooperative intended that no milk from a farmer was refused and 70-80% of the price by consumers was paid in cash to dairy farmers who controlled not only the produce but marketing, procurement and processing of dairy products and milk. 

Notably, Amul also catered to the shortfall of milk powder by processing the same from abundant buffalo milk instead of cows' which was short in supply too. This helped the sector too, as producers could locate no buyers in the flush season when cattle produce more milk than usual.

Under Kurien's full-fledged idealistic experiment, he banded together rural producers who sold their dairy products directly to consumers sans any agent. His objective was not limited to processing milk products of farmers but the little moppet girl endorsing Amul's 'utterly bitterly delicious' products struck a chord with consumers instantly and assimilated the country's most invaluable resource, manpower. Then rural India mostly consisted of people with a small plot of cultivated land, money or cattle and the return on their labour was imperative instead of capital, therefore they collectively achieved what was difficult to attain individually. 

A recipient of numerous prestigious felicitations, Kurien has received several awards, including Wateler Peace Prize, World Food Prize, Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Ramon Magsaysay Award. On September 9, 2012, at the age of 90, Kurien died after an ailment. 

Over the years, the dairy giant has come to be known for its satirical perspective on current issues and bulletin through their advertisements. Taking to Twitter, Amul shared, "Celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the Milkman of India!"