The founding of Amul was one of the biggest achievements of his life. For his unprecedented social welfare work, he was honored with Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan, Padma Vibhushan and Krishi Ratna by the Government of India. Let us know about his life in detail.

 

Birth and Education:-

Dr. Verghese Kurien was born on November 26, 1921 in the city of Kozhikode in the state of Kerala in a Syrian Christian family. Verghese Kurien, who was a brilliant student since childhood, did his graduation in science from Loyala College, Chennai in the year 1940. After that he stayed in Chennai and completed his engineering degree from GC Engineering College.

 

After completing his studies, he came to Jamshedpur and worked in TISCO (Tata Steel Limited). While working, he continued to study. And then when he got a scholarship by the Government of India to study dairy engineering, from which he first studied at the Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Bangalore for 9 months and then went to Michigan State University, America to pursue special education. He obtained his master's degree in mechanical engineering in 1948. In this exercise, he studied dairy farming as a subject.

It is interesting that Dr. Kurien was not initially interested in dairy farming and was studying it only because of government scholarship.

 

Dr. Verghese himself later said-

I was sent to study dairy engineering… I cheated a bit and studied metallurgical and nuclear engineering.. which might have been more useful for my soon-to-be independent country and myself. But later he took dairy technology seriously and went to Australia before founding New Zealand and Amul on government scholarship in 1952-53.

 

family:-

Dr. Verghese Kurien's wife's name was Mauli and his daughter's name was Nirmala. In the year in which Kurien ji died, his wife also died in the same year. Dr. Kurien used to give great importance to family along with work and he said that –

"Eight hours for dairy, eight hours for family and eight hours for sleep."n

Turning Point of Dr. Verghese Kurien's Life :-

After receiving his master's degree, Dr. Verghese Kurien returned to India from America. And in the year 1948, he joined the Dairy Department run by the Government of India. The next year in 1949, he was sent as a dairy engineer to the Government Research Creamery in Anand, Gujarat state. Dr. Kurien started working there only to fulfill his bond. And soon Beman quit his job.

 

He was about to return from Anand when Tribhuvandas Patel, the founder of Kaira District Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL), stopped him and convinced him to work with him for a few days. The trust shown by the farmers in him from above inspired Dr. Kurien to help him. Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union Limited (KDCMPUL) went ahead and branded its dairy products under the name Amul.

 

The invention that made Amul a big success :-

From December to March, when milk is produced in high quantity, the farmers did not get anyone to sell the milk. In such a situation, if the milk was converted into powder, then it would have become a matter. But till that time only cow's milk powder had the technology to make it.

 

In such a situation, Dr. Kurien called H. M. Dalaya, his batchmate in America, to Anand and agreed to stay there. Soon H. M. Dalaya invented making skim milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk.

 

This innovation has given Amul a competitive edge over companies across the world. And today Amul is a nearly $6 billion cooperative whose products are sold in more than 60 countries.

 

When Dr. Kurien's friend started making skim milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk, dairy experts around the world considered it impossible.

 

Amul nomenclature:-

Dr. Kurien was an engineer and did not pay much attention to marketing, branding etc. In such a situation, his brother-in-law K.M. Philip told them the importance of these things. It was only after this that he started searching for a brand name and much deliberation and finally the name Amul was chosen, which is derived from a Sanskrit word "Amulya". Its meaning is priceless.

 

Perhaps you will be surprised to know that the name Amul was suggested by a chemist working in dairy laboratory.

 

National Milk Development Board (NDDB):-

In the coming time, Amul was now able to compete with a giant like Nestle. Since till now Nestle used to make powder of cow's milk only. The successful launch of Amul impressed the Prime Minister of the country, Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri, that he formed the National Milk Development Board (NDDB) in the year 1965 to spread the Amul model to the whole of India and appointed Dr. Verghese Kurien to the board. reinstated in the presidency. He remained in this position for about 33 years (from 1965 to 1998). Kurien ji Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) from 1979 to 2006 ) held the position of President.

 

Dr. Kurien's political hold was very strong. It is believed that he worked on his terms and conditions with at least 9 Prime Ministers for 5 decades. For this reason, he came to be known as the "crocodile that swims in milk".

 

Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF):-

Dr. Verghese Kurien established this institution in the year 1973 with the aim of providing market to the dairy producer. He remained on the post of President of this institution from the year 1973 to the year 2006 and made excellent contribution.

Operation Flood:-

Talking about the sixties and seventies, there was a big shortage of milk production in our country during this period. Verghese Kurien was determined to eliminate this problem from the root. Operation Flood started in the year 1970. Which was completed in three phases. As a result of this great campaign, our country became the most powerful and largest milk producing center in the world and Dr. Kurien became famous as "the man with billion-litre idea".

 

Dr. Kurien's Amul model was adopted by many more states and the stream of milk started flowing there too. Brand Nandani from Karnataka, brand Saras from Rajasthan and brand Sudha from Bihar achieved huge success in their respective fields.

 

Other Major Contributions of Dr. Kurien:-

Played a key role in the establishment of “Dhara” (Operation Golden Flow for cooking oils), “Mother Dairy” and “Safal” (Vegetable Brand).

Cooperation in setting up cooperatives on the lines of Amul in the Soviet Union, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

 

Famous Works:-

Talking about the famous books written by Dr. Verghese Kurien, he wrote in his lifetime.

"An Unfinished Dream",

"The Men Who Mend Elephant Dance", and

"I Too Had I Dream"

He had written three books, in which he has written in detail about the good and bad events and struggles that happened in his life.

 

Achievements and Honors:-

In the year 1963, he was honored with the Raman Mengsaysay Award.

Received Padma Shri Award by the Government of India in the year 1965.

The Padma Bhushan Award was given by the Government of India in the year 1966.

In 1986, the Government of India honored him with the Krishi Ratna Award.

In 1986, he again received the Watler Peace Prize by the Corning Foundation.

The World Food Prize Award was given by the World Food Prize Foundation in the year 1989.

Distinguished Alumni Award by Michigan State University in 1991.

In the year 1993, the World Dairy Expo selected him as the International Person of the Year.

In the year 1999, he was honored with the Padma Vibhushan Award by the Government of India.

The interesting thing related to the life of Dr. Verghese Kurien, the Milk Man of India and the father of the White Revolution, is that he himself did not drink milk. He did not like to drink milk.

 

Amul – Not just a dairy brand, it is much more:-

 

On the face of it, Amul may seem to be a hugely successful dairy brand, but in its journey to become one, Amul has done many things that are worthless, which are really priceless-

Amul bridged the caste gap. Farmers of every religion, every caste joined Amul and lined up together and gave their milk to the cooperative.

Amul changed the lives of villagers facing financial crisis. Now they had money, from which they could enjoy better health, education and lifestyle.

The success of Amul not only made the lives of farmers in Gujarat or other states of India better, but the lives of farmers all over the world.

Along with this, Amul also came as a boon for cattle. Now farmers started taking good care of them for good milk production and they started getting better fodder.

 

Death :-

Respected Dr. Verghese Kurien, who gave the solution to the biggest problem of the country, left this world at the age of 90 on September 9, 2012. He took his last breath in Nadiad in the state of Gujarat. The nation will always remember his invaluable contribution made by him through Amul.