Father of White
Revolution
Dr. Verghese Kurian
50-60 years ago, one word was used
for 'butter' i.e. 'polson'. Today that word has been replaced by the word
'Amul'. The dairy where the butter under the 'Polson' brand was made was
located in Anand town, in the milk-rich district of Anand in Gujarat,
and the dairy where the milk products including butter under the brand 'Amul' are
made is also located in Anand itself! The word 'Amul' means 'Anand Milk Union
Ltd.' The name is the English letters of the cooperative. The story of AMUL and
Dr. Kurien, is a story of revolution in three fields, viz. (1) conversion of
milk-starved country to the country with highest production of milk in the
world, (2) change in economic life of milk producing small farmers and (3) the
alternative to two contrasting paths of economics i.e. capitalism and socialism
in the form of co-operativism.
We cannot evaluate either brand
AMUL or Dr. Verghese Kurien separately as the story is two side of a single
coin. In the decade 1940-50, when the British families living in and around
Mumbai, Mumbai milk and butter produced in and around Mumbai felt unhealthy,
they decided to bring the milk produced in Kheda district. Kheda (now split into two districts Kheda and
Anand) is an agricultural district in Gujarat,
is very rich in agriculture and traditional livestock and were producing milk
in large quantity. So initially the milk produced in this district was
dispatched to Mumbai (about 350 km.) in cans arranged in ice. Collection and
dispatch was done by 'Polson' Dairy (British ownership) established in Anand.
Then British government gave them the monopoly of milk collection besides
financial and other facilities.
The extra milk was used in the
production of butter. The farmers were
always dissatisfied with prices the Polson offered. Moreover, as milk is a
perishable commodity, farmers were compelled to accept whatever price they
could get. When the supply of milk from more many times they were denied to buy
extra milk.
When India got freedom from British
in 1947, first Home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel (who belonged to this
district and was well aware of this situation) suggested the establishment of
Milk Cooperative Society n villages of Kheda District for the benefit of
farmers and establishment of such village Milk Cooperative Societies was taken
up by Mr. Morarji Desai (then Home Minister of Mumbai State). To co-ordinate
these village co-operatives an apex body was formed Mr. Morarji Desai appointed
Shri Tribhuvanbhai Patel as its first president. This body was Anand Milk Union
Limited. However, to sell the milk, they had to go to Polson and they would buy
the milk on their terms.
It was during this time that the
idea of Union establishing its own dairy as an alternative to Polson Dairy
was floated, so that produced can be sold at a fair price and exploitation of
the farmers is stopped. Mr. Tribhovanbhai's efforts in this direction also
received government support. The initial work was difficult. There were many
obstacles. At that time a government dairy was also functioning in Anand and it
was managed by the then Mumbai government.
The second line was created by
nature in the form of Dr. Verghese Kurien. Born in 1921, Dr. Kurien, who once
had no knowledge of what a cow or a buffalo looked like. John Mathai (who
became the first Finance Minister of the Government of India after
independence) was once a great economist and a key figure in Tata Steel. He was
Dr. Kurien's maternal uncle. After Kurian became a metallurgical engineer, John
Mathai got him joined at Tata Steel Ltd. Despite having a big company, good
salary and a suitable place for a responsible engineer like him, Dr. Kurien was
not happy here. Being a relative of a high-ranking company official had more
disadvantages than advantages. No co-worker was willing to befriend him. In no
time he decided to leave the Tata company. But where to go?
At that time, the Indian government
was providing financial assistance to the youth who wanted to pursue higher
studies abroad. In return, when he returned to India after completing his studies had
to work for Government at whatever place he is posted for at least five years.
Dr. Kurien applied for this loan scholarship and got selected..! A
metallurgical engineer selected to further study 'Dairy Technology' at Chicago, USA..!
Dr. Kurien wanted to get rid of Tata, so he agreed. After completing his
studies, Dr. Kurien obtained doctorate in dairy technology. When Dr. Kurien returned
to India,
he expected the government to appoint him to a good position in a big city, but
the government gave him an appointment at the official dairy in Anand. He had
no choice but to accept the job because he had signed a contract.
There was no work in government
dairy. He was of no use in what little machinery there were for processing milk
and a machine that could be operated by one man there were ten men to operate
it. In no time he was tired of resting! Apart from the job, he could not find a
good place to live, because the disqualifications were more than his
qualifications to get a house on rent, such as he was Kerala Christians,
non-vegetarian, bachelor etc. He, however, found a placce defunct motor
repairing garage, which he made livable. Dr. Varghese wanted to leave Anand
early. At that time the population of the dusty village of Anand
was only ten thousand. It was very uncomfortable and there was nothing
interesting to do. From time to time he kept representing to the government
that there is no use for him or his skills and the government salary was
wasted, so to release him.
To spend his free time, he often
went to the nearby Kheda District Co-operative Milk Producers' Society, so he
gradually became well acquainted with Tribhuvanbhai Patel. Sometimes Dr. Kurian
also helped him. The machinery that the Society had brought was very old and
unworkable. Dr. Kurian tried to fix this machinery but it could not run much,
so he suggested to Tribhuvanbhai that a new machinery should be bought instead.
At that time the amount of rupees forty thousand required for the new machinery
was very large. Yet Mr. Tribhuvanbhai arranged for it and gave that amount to
Dr. Kurian and sent him to Mumbai and the order for new machinery was placed to
Larsen & Tobro.
This was the beginning of the
confluence of the two streams. At that time, Dr. Kurien wrote, 'I hated Anand.
I wanted to escape from there, but could not, because there was an agreement
with the Indian government to work for five years wherever they sent me. I
couldn't afford to give enough money to get out of this contract..'
Due to repeated submissions, the
government accepted his resignation. Dr. Kurien had packed his belongings to
reach Mumbai early and was preparing to leave, when Tribhuvanbhai arrived at
his door. All he said was that the machinery you ordered would arrive soon. So
you stay for two months and may go after the machinery is set up and running.
Dr. Kurien had developed such a bond with Tribhuvanbhai that he could not
refuse. His staying back for two months was to become a lifetime and split the
river into many branches like the vast river Hooghly.
Tribhuvanbhai Patel a popular
leader, social activist and prominent politician and Dr. Kurian an expert dairy
technologist were to change the milk future of farmers all over the country.
Amul Dairy is a great example of what beautiful work that can be done when a
sincere worker and a sincere officer come together. Together, the two started a
revolution that would later become known as 'Sweta Kanti' (white revolution).
Polson's monopoly (of buying milk
in that area) ended. Small scale milk chilling and processing work started in
Anand. The milk trade with Mumbai continued and benefited the farmers. Due to
the co-operative system, the benefits of good prices reached the farmers. As
farmers began to get free from worries about selling, and they began to get
good prices for their milk, milk production also began to rise. Many small
farmers have come to consider milk production as a main tool rather than a
supplementary tool of income. Some farmers who did not have lands also started
producing milk by keeping cows and buffaloes. Door-step collection of milk, advances
for buying stock, veterinary services, essential commodities for their homes
etc. also started gradually. The small plant of the dairy had now become a
hurdle. The daily milk inflow increased from 200 liters in 1948 to over 20,000
liters in 1952.
At that time, Dr. Kurien wrote, 'I
grew and learned new lessons with the cooperative economics. In my very early
lessons, I understood that within every challenge lies an opportunity.'
The need for a large dairy from a small plant now became
urgent. Machinery including vast land, Railway Siding was required for that.
Dr. Kurien was able to explain this to Tribhovanbhai and the later arranged a
capital of Rupees 40 lakhs (4 million), which was very large sum in those days.
Along with dairy management, Dr. Kurien frequently visited the villages,
observed the processing of the milk collected there and also gave necessary
advice.
One interesting case has been cited
by him. "Once Mr. Medora, a friend of me and a classmate in America,
pointed out to me that 'we have found ‘formalin’ in the co-operative's milk. I
was stunned. Formalin is a poison. Some times it is illegally used as a preservative
to preserve milk, because it kills spiders and mites. The matter had to be
investigated and the source of the poison had to be found. We started
investigation and found a truck that was carrying the milk from six villages.
Then we came to know that the milk was coming from a village Pansora. We met
the president of the milk society there and searched the milk collection
centre. Indeed, a bottle of formalin was found there. "We only put this
much (indicative) in each can so the milk is not rejected," said the
president happily. The president was an illiterate farmer. He did not even know
that it was poison and illegal, so he spoke happily. We were scared. On asking
who had taught him this, he said that two chemists from the Government dairy
(Medora from that dairy was also with me) had given this advice. Upon reaching
Anand, the first thing Mr. Medara did was to take action against those two
chemists.”
Along with dairy, Dr. Kurian's
career and reputation also continued to grow. He spent five months in New Zealand
studying the dairy system there. New Zealand is considered as the
best in the world when it comes to dairy. Apart from this, he also studied the
methods of other countries like Denmark,
Holland, which
are the leaders in milk production, and strived to gradually make Amul Dairy a
world-class dairy. Following Amul other districts of Gujarat
also had developed cooperative dairies and new ones were coming up. In each
district became a district cooperative dairy. Mehsana (Dudhsagar) Dairy was at
the forefront at that time. A modern plant was also established there and milk
products were sold under the 'Sagar' brand. Clever Dr. Kurien's foresight saw that
this was the beginning of a competition between the dairies. So he negotiated
with the leaders of Sagar Dairy and it was decided that the products
manufactured by Sagar would also be sold under the 'Amul' brand and Sagar Dairy
would also benefit from Amul's distribution system. Dr. Kurien also felt that
it was time to create their own
marketing system instead of Voltas and Spencer companies for selling the
Amul brand. After the agreement with Sagar Dairy, he set up a separate sales
organization called ‘Gujarat Milk Marketing Federation’ with a view to have
similar arrangements with dairies of other districts, so that marketing of all
district dairies affiliated to it can be done under one grid.
In the decade of 1960-70, the name
of Amul was already famous all over the country. Government dairies run by the
Government of India were making losses. One time Prime Minister Late Mr. Lal
Bahadur Shastri also got interested in Amul. He arranged a visit to Anand and
quietly reached Ajarpura, a village in the district. No one knew in advance of
his visit to Ajarpura. Not even the host whose guest they were to be! Shastri ji
stayed there for a full day and night, interacted with the farmers of the
village - including all castes and classes and reached Anand the next day. One
thing he wondered was that the agricultural situation in Kheda district was no
different from other parts of the country, yet why so much success here?
When Dr. Kurien was questioned, he
explained to him the difference between a 'government' and a 'cooperative'
system. Here is a part of his conversation with Shastri ji is worth reading as
it is interesting. This dialogue is a precursor to the formation of the
National Dairy Development Board.
Shastriji asked, “Kurian, this
means we can create a lot of 'Anand' in the country. There is no reason that
'Anand' is only in Gujarat. right?'
Dr. Kurien agreed. Shastriji
continued, “O.K, Kurien, from tomorrow you will no longer work only for Anand,
for Gujarat. Rather do it for the whole of India. The
Government of India will give you a blank cheque... on the condition that you
are willing to head it...''
Dr. Kurien said, “I have some
conditions before I agree to you. First, I am and will remain a servant of
farmers. I will not take a single penny from the government. It will not be
headquartered in Delhi, because the people of Delhi think about many
things, but less about the farmers. While here we think only of farmers. That
means whatever set up is formed, H.Q, will be in Anand.”
Thus Anand became the headquarters
of National Dairy Development Board such a national organization. He also
started another project called 'Operation Flood' and under it, Anand type
three-tier cooperative system was started in other parts of the country. First
level of village cooperative societies, second level of dairy unions and third
level of their federations. Due to this big project, about ten million (1
crore) farmers of the country joined the milk revolution in the country, the
'White Revolution'.
Dr. Kurian's fame and Amul's
success were spreading beyond the country's borders and developing countries
took keen interest in the matter including neighboring country Pakistan. When
the a delegation from the World Bank (Pakistan
insisted to the World Bank that Dr. Kurien must be part of the delegation)
visited Pakistan in 1982, the ministers there urged Dr. Kurian to start an organization
like Amul there as well. But it could not materialize.
As the Amul experiment expanded,
many new needs arose. Rural economy and management were the main ones. If the
sale, improvement etc. of other products of the farmers are done like milk simultaneously,
then the development of the farmers as a whole would take place. Dr. Kurien's
ingenuity also led the way and the Institute
of Rural Management
(popularly known as 'IRMA') was established in Anand, which today functions as
a prestigious educational institution.
Dr. Kurien has received several
national and international awards in recognition of his fifty years of work. He
received the highest honors of the country Padma Shri in 1965, Padma Bhushan in
1966 and Padma Vibhushan in 1999. He received global awards like Raman
Magsaysay Award in 1963, Vatlor Peace Prize in 1986, World Food Prize in 1989.
Dr. Kurian and Shri Tribhovanbhai
Patel and their colleagues in the cooperative sector can be considered as an
excellent alternative to public participation. 'Amul' is a classic example of
successful co-operative system. It is glaring example of participatory economic
system between the world's two economic systems i.e. capitalism and socialism.
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