Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution is no more

Mangalore Today/ CNN-IBN

New Delhi, Sept 9: Verghese Kurien, father of White Revolution, passed away in Nadiad, Gujarat on Sunday. Kurien, who turned 10 million farmers into a legendary cooperative, was 90-years-old.

"Kurien died a natural death due to his age," The MD of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd (GCMMF) said. Kurien’s body will be kept at Anand for public to pay tribute.

 

 

Kurien was 28 when he came to Anand, Gujarat in 1949, and was soon working hard to help a budding cooperative to grow. For him the dairy farmers were the rightful owners of the milk business.

In a buffalo dominated country, Kurien revolutionised the milk industry when he produced milk powder from buffalo milk. The rest of the world used cow milk to make milk powder.

"They saw powder coming. I said this is powder from buffalo milk for the first time in the world," said Kurien.

By 1955, the co-operative owned Asia’s largest dairy and was producing more than 20,000 litres of milk a day. It was time to give themselves a name.

"We all knew that to sell we must have a brand and one of our chemists suggested Anand Milk Union Limited or Amul, which meant Amulya or priceless in Sanskrit," said Kurien.

Kurien soon replicated the Anand model throughout India as operation flood, making India the world’s largest producer of milk. Today over 10 million farmers across the country at 200 dairies produce over 20 million litres of milk a day.

As the milk man of India celebrates his 90th birthday, he also has an honest confession to make.

"I don’t drink milk. I don’t like it," said Kurien.

As the milk man of India celebrated his 90th birthday, he also had an honest confession to make.

"I don’t drink milk. I don’t like it," said Kurien.