In
business, as the saying goes, the thing that matters the
most is profit. Most business leaders are driven so1ely by
profit. In course of their pursuit of monetary gains, they
often tend to forget their responsibilities towards the
society. On the other hand, there are some businessmen who
devotedly strive towards creating some specific types of
business models which facilitate social change for the
benefit of disadvantaged sections and ultimately, the
society. Dr. Verghese Kurien, better known as the "Milkman
of India", is an excellent example of social
entrepreneurship. With his exceptional business acumen, he
was the main architect behind the exemplary success of
Operation Flood, the largest dairy development programme
in the world. The name of the great man, who is also
popularly known by the epithet “the father of the white
revolution in India”, has become synonymous with the
famous Amul brand.
Born in Kozhikode, Kerala in 1921, Dr. Kurien graduated in
Physics form Loyola College. Madras (now Chennai).
Subsequently, he did his B.E. (Mechanical) from the Madras
University and went to USA on a government scholarship to
do his Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the Michigan
State University, USA. In between, he completed special
courses in engineering at the Tata Iron and Steel Company
Institute, jamshedpur. Besides, he underwent nine months
of specialised training in Dairy Engineering at the
National Dairy Research Institute, Bengaluru. He returned
from the US in 1948 and joined the Dairy Department of the
Government of India. He was posted as dairy engineer to
the Government Research Creamery, a small milk powder
factory, in Anand, Gujarat. During that time, the newly
formed cooperative dairy, Kheda District ‘Cooperative Milk
Producers’ Union Limited (KDCMPUL), was engaged in a
battle for survival with the privately-owned Poison Dairy,
which was then a giant in the field. Driven by the
challenge, Dr. Kurien left his government job and
volunteered to help set up a processing plant. This
ultimately led to the birth of Amul. And the rest, as they
say, is history.
The great success of Amul created quite a stir in the
corporate scenario of India. The
success story of his venture made the authorities take
notice of his pioneering work. It was in 1965 that the
then Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri
established the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)
under the leadership of Dr. Kurien. The idea behind this
move was to replicate the success story of Amul throughout
the whole of India. In 1973, he played an instrumental
role in setting up the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing
Federation (GCMMF) to market the goods produced by the
dairies. These entrepreneurial ventures of Dr. Kurien had
a far-reaching effect on the dairy business domain of the
country. Gradually, some other important players emerged
in the field who collectively helped bring India into the
world scene in the arena of dairy products. In course of
time, under the leadership of Dr. Kurien, India became the
largest producer of milk in the world.
During his long and illustrious career, Dr. Kurien has won
a great many number of important accolades and awards. He
won the Padma Shri in 1965, the Padma Bhushan in 1966, and
Padma Vibhushan, the second highest civilian honour of the
country, in 1999. He has won various other significant
awards as well, which include the Ramon Magsaysay Award
for Community Leadership (1963), a prestigious
international honour. In recognition of his splendid
service to the nation, the Government of India honoured
him with the Krishi Ratna Award in 1986. Other significant
international accolades include the Wateler Peace Prize
(1986), an award instituted by the Carnegie Foundation,
and the World Food Prize Laureate (1989). Apart from
these, Dr. Kurien was honoured as the International Person
of the Year by the World Dairy Expo in Wisconsin, USA, in
1993. In 2010, Dr. Kurien was awarded D.Sc. (Honoris Causa)
by the Karunya University, Coimbatore and Maharaja
Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara. In October 2011,
the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, founded
by Dr. Kurien, was awarded the Economic Times Corporate
Citizen of the Year 2011 award.
In
business, as the saying goes, the thing that matters the
most is profit. Most business leaders are driven so1ely by
profit. In course of their pursuit of monetary gains, they
often tend to forget their responsibilities towards the
society. On the other hand, there are some businessmen who
devotedly strive towards creating some specific types of
business models which facilitate social change for the
benefit of disadvantaged sections and ultimately, the
society. Dr. Verghese Kurien, better known as the "Milkman
of India", is an excellent example of social
entrepreneurship. With his exceptional business acumen, he
was the main architect behind the exemplary success of
Operation Flood, the largest dairy development programme
in the world. The name of the great man, who is also
popularly known by the epithet “the father of the white
revolution in India”, has become synonymous with the
famous Amul brand.
success story of his venture made the authorities take
notice of his pioneering work. It was in 1965 that the
then Prime Minister of India Lal Bahadur Shastri
established the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB)
under the leadership of Dr. Kurien. The idea behind this
move was to replicate the success story of Amul throughout
the whole of India. In 1973, he played an instrumental
role in setting up the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing
Federation (GCMMF) to market the goods produced by the
dairies. These entrepreneurial ventures of Dr. Kurien had
a far-reaching effect on the dairy business domain of the
country. Gradually, some other important players emerged
in the field who collectively helped bring India into the
world scene in the arena of dairy products. In course of
time, under the leadership of Dr. Kurien, India became the
largest producer of milk in the world.
