New Delhi: Milk is one of the most important sources of nutrients and every year on November 26, National Milk Day is celebrated in India. The day honours the birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien, who is known as the “Father of the White Revolution in India”. The day highlights the pivotal contributions of the dairy sector to India’s economy and nutritional security.
Who was Verghese Kurien?
Verghese Kurien was a social entrepreneur and Indian dairy engineer whose efforts led to the extensive increased milk production in India which is known as the White Revolution. Born on November 26, 1921, in Calicut, Madras Presidency, Kurien graduated in physics and received a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He wanted to join the Army as an engineer but instead joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute in Jamshedpur. The government gave him a scholarship to study dairy engineering and he was sent to the Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry in Bengaluru for training and later sent to the US by the government.
Verghese Kurien and the foundation of Amul
In 1949, the government sent Kurien to its experimental creamery at Anand where he helped Tribhuvandas Patel to fix the dairy equipment used for processing the milk procured from the local farmers. He founded the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited (KDCMPUL) which we know as Amul.
Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Morarji Desai helped him to organise the dairy farmers. While milk production was a mere 200 litres per day in 1948, it increased to 20,000 litres by 1952.
Kurien helped in making skimmed milk powder and condensed milk from buffalo milk as cow milk was in short supply in India while buffalo milk was plentiful. As Amul produced condensed milk and baby food from Buffalo Milk, it competed successfully against Nestle and Glaxo.
In October 1964, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri visited Anand in order to inaugurate the cattle feed factory of Amul. He talked with the dairy farmers and in 1965, he entrusted Kurien to replicate the dairy’s Anand scheme all over the nation. It led to the foundation of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) as a society in Anand and Kurien was at its helm.
Kurien took several other steps to increase milk production in India which led to the White Revolution. He was invited to the Soviet Union and even visited Pakistan at the request of its government to help set up dairy cooperatives. Nations like the Philippines and Sri Lanka wanted him to replicate the cooperative model in their countries. On September 9, 2012, he passed away due to illness at the age of 90.
Every year on November 26, National Milk Day honours the birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien, who is known as the “Father of the White Revolution in India”. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
