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 Today that word has been replaced by the word 'Amul'.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.