4. Mr. Verghese Kurien Born – 26 November 1921at Kozhikode Kerala A.K.A – Father of White Revolution in India Bachelor of science (Physics) from Loyola College, Madras in 1941 BE (Mechanical) 7th rank from Madras University in 1944 Special studies in engineering from the TISCO at Jamshedpur 1946 Specialized training in dairy engineering at the National Dairy Research Institute, Bangalore MSc (Mechanical engineering) with specialization on dairy engineering from Michigan State University in 1948
5. Entry at AMUL Posted as a dairy engineer at a government creamery, Anand, in May 1949. The same time Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union (KDCMPUL) was fighting a battle with the Polson Dairy, which was privately owned. Fed up with the creamery, he helped Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, the Chairman of KDCMPUL, to set up a processing plant. This marked the birth of AMUL.
6. He was the chairman of ‘Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.’ which is the apex organization managing the Amul brand. From the White Revolution in 1966 Verghese Kurien’s Amul experiment in Gujarat soon blossomed into the much larger Operation Flood, spread over 23 states, 170 districts and 90,000 village cooperatives. It changed India from an importer to the world's largest milk producer and exporter.
7. Changes brought about at AMUL Tribhuvandas Patel organized the 200-odd milk producers of the surrounding Kaira district into a cooperative for supplying milk to the government-run Bombay Milk Scheme. Kurien infused the new organization with his expertise in modern technology, management, powerful marketing and branding strategies, while preserving the cooperative spirit of the venture. Skeptics had their doubts: Could 'natives' handle sophisticated dairy equipment? Could western-style milk products be processed from buffalo milk? Could a mere farmers' cooperative market butter and cheese to sophisticated urban consumers?
8. The Amul team confounded the cynics by processing a variety of high-grade dairy products, for the first time from buffalo milk, and marketing them nationally against competition from corporate rivals.
9. Operation Flood Dr Kurien's major engagement was with Operation Flood, a successful multipurpose programme that turned scarcity into surplus, popularly known as the White Revolution. Operation Flood ran under Kurien's leadership in three phases for 26 years, with three principal objectives: Making dairying India's largest self-sustainable rural employment programme Bringing India close to self-sufficiency in milk production Trebling the nation's milk production within a span of two-and-a-half decades to make India the world's largest milk producer
10. Hurdles Faced The "milk lobby“ - the powerful dairy traders and local panchayat and zilla politicians – who controlled of the milk trade, which the cooperative threatened. Kurien's cooperative venture was built on a simple but compelling logic — mass consumption and mass production must go hand in hand to bring all round prosperity. He led the producers in their struggle for command over the resources they created, a struggle to obtain equitable returns and a struggle for liberation from dependence on middlemen, a struggle against exploitation. It was an impossible task, and at times he faced threats to his life.
11. The result was the now famous Amul pattern evolved by Kurien. It became a global role model for dairying as an instrument of rural development. In India the model has been extended to other commodities like edible oil, fruits, vegetables and salt.
22. CSR Activities CGMMF formed the “Amul Relief Trust”(ART) under Dr. V. Kurien in 2001 with a donation of Rs.50 mn for reconstruction of the school buildings damaged in the 2001 earthquake in the Kutch area. The Trust reconstructed 6 schools damaged by the above earthquake at a cost of Rs.41.1 mn in Kutch area Four of these schools started re-functioning within 2 years.
23. Core Beliefs Emotion Discipline Duty No discrimination Quality Give respect Truth Religion
24. View about milk producers Kurien's professional life has been dedicated to empowering millions of humble Indian milk producers, He saw an economic resource and potential at the bottom of the pyramid. ''Without their involvement, we cannot succeed. With their involvement, we cannot fail...‘’
25. Quotes “The backward sections of society in India have been exploited and ill-treated for many years. Therefore, there is a need to make up for it (the ill-treatment).” As a Chairman of ‘Institute of Rural Management’ while accomplishing his mission of a 'White Revolution', Dr. Kurien takes on the role of a mentor, a teacher. 'We are training sixty Kuriens every year'
26. Awards 1963 - Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership.[3] 1965 - Padma Shri 1966 - Padma Bhushan (from president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan) 1986 - Krishi Ratna Award (by the President of India) 1986 - Wateler Peace Prize Award (of Carnegie Foundation ) 1989 - World Food Prize Laureate 1993 - International Person of the Year (World Dairy Expo USA) 1999 - Padma Vibhushan 2007 - Karmaveer Puraskaar by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs
