Dr. Verghese Kurien Memorial Lecture Michigan State University India's
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Dr. Verghese Kurien Memorial Lecture Michigan State University India’s Milk Revolution Verghese Kurien and the Story of Amul R S Sodhi Managing Director AMUL INDIA Dr. Satish Udpa, Executive Vice President, Michigan State University, Dr. Bobby Bringhi, Ms. Nirmala Kurien, Respected Deans, Administrators, Professors, Scholars of MSU, ex- colleagues and former associates of Dr. Kurien from his days at Amul; distinguished guests, Ladies & Gentlemen, it is indeed a great honor and privilege for me to be invited to deliver the Dr. Verghese Kurien memorial lecture, dedicated to the memory of an illustrious alumnus of Michigan State 1 University, from the batch of 1948, who was instrumental in transforming the lives of 15 million farmer families across India. Dr. Kurien is remembered by many names; he is popularly called the ‘Milkman of India’; Father of ‘White Revolution’; doyen of dairy cooperative movement in India; institution-builder par excellence who ushered in a socio- economic revolution among rural farmers. I was fortunate to be closely associated with Dr. Kurien for 32 years, since I joined the first batch of the Management Institute founded by him, called Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), in 1980. After graduating from IRMA in 1982, as I started to work for the farmers, as an employee of GCMMF, I was blessed to have the opportunity to work directly under the visionary leadership of my hero. Who would have imagined that a cooperative formed by small and marginal farmers of just two tiny villages located in the heart of Gujarat, 70 years ago, would one day transform into 2 India’s largest food organization with business of U$5.8 Billion per annum. Even with a crystal ball, no one could have predicted that a fledgling enterprise, which started by collecting just 250 litres of milk per day in 1946, will one day become a dairy giant handling 22 million litres of milk on a daily basis. It takes a lot to visualize how a bunch of farmers, many of whom did not even have the privilege of seeing the insides of a primary school and lacked even the basic literacy skills would be able to create an organization that successfully deploys cutting edge manufacturing technology and innovation across 69 large scale dairy factories. Who could have predicted that milk could become the instrument of development, that would transform the most vulnerable sections of society, landless laborers and especially rural women into successful entrepreneurs and 3 owners of India’s biggest food brand, decorated with most coveted honors, accolades and awards from around the world. What does it really take for rural women living in remote areas of India, to gain financial independence, status of economic equality within the family and remunerative livelihood, overcoming centuries of social barriers and severe scarcity of resources? How does a four letter acronym; A.M.U.L become one of the most loved brands in India, inducing almost blind faith and trust in millions. How did a milk deficit country, which was dependent on import of dairy commodities from New Zealand and Europe till 1970s, become the largest milk producing nation in the world, self- sufficient in fulfilling the nutritional requirements of its own citizens, at least in terms of milk and dairy products? 4 How does milk, the most perishable agricultural commodity with life of just a few hours, become the most price-stable commodity in India, where continuous increase in milk production is actually accompanied by continuous increase in milk procurement prices to farmers? All this was because of just one alumnus of this esteemed academic institution in 1948, who decided that it would be his mission in life to change the fortunes of millions of underprivileged and less fortunate amongst his own fellow countrymen, in turn, transforming the destiny of his mother land. Born on 26th November 1921, third of the four children of a highly educated family belonging to the Syrian Christian community of Calicut, Kerala, Verghese Kurien was a brilliant scholar and an outstanding athlete, in fact, a boxer. After graduating with an engineering degree from Chennai, young Verghese Kurien received a scholarship from the Government 5 of India to complete his Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering and Dairy Science, from the Michigan State University, in 1946. Dr. Kurien used to fondly remember his days at MSU and as he himself narrated much later, he spent good, productive days in the University, which prepared him for his life’s mission ahead. He had vivid memories of his research at MSU on a fascinating subject of ‘heredity in cast iron’ and his joint discovery of ‘colloidal iron’ with his Professor here. He used to talk about the many stimulating evenings, he spent here with his friends, debating and arguing vociferously, responding emphatically whenever the competence of the Third world was questioned. A sportsman at heart, he perused his love for tennis here and even won a championship. Most importantly, he found some of his closest friends here, Pheroze Medora and Harichand M Dalaya, who went on to play a major role in his life’s journey and work. 6 While Dr. Kurien joined the Michigan State University in 1946, half a world away, certain historical events were unfolding in rural Gujarat, which would later have a profound influence in his life. India was abuzz with the cry for freedom from British rule. The birth of Amul, was an offshoot of India’s national struggle for Independence. The organization took roots in 1946, when the freedom movement was at its peak. The farmers of Kaira district, a remote rural area in western India, went on strike to protest against economic exploitation at the hands of private milk contractors, who enjoyed a monopoly over milk-procurement in the region. The colonial government of what was then known as Bombay province, granted this monopoly to the contractors. The story goes that in early 1940s. Britishers living in Bombay started falling ill and after investigations, the British government sent milk samples from Bombay to a lab in London for analysis. The lab report stated that the milk available in Bombay in 1940s was more contaminated than the gutter water of London. Immediately 7 the provincial British government of Bombay started the Bombay milk scheme wherein milk was to be supplied from the milk-rich Kaira district of rural Gujarat to Bombay city. A private contractor, named Polson, was given monopoly over milk collection and supplies. He purchased milk at the lowest price from farmers and then supplied it to Bombay milk scheme, making a good profit in between. The farmers were economically exploited and marginalized to a remote end of the value chain. Led by Tribhuvandas Patel, a visionary leader of farmers from Kaira district of Gujarat, the farmers sought inspiration and advice from eminent national leaders such as Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and Morarji Desai. For those not too familiar with Indian history, it is important to note that Sardar Patel went on to become the first deputy Prime Minister of independent India and is largely credited with creating modern 8 India, as it exists today. Morarji Desai also went on to become Prime Minister of India, three decades later. It was Sardar Patel who advised the farmers to form their own cooperative and to go on strike, if the British colonial government refused to register their cooperative. The words of Sardar, contain the basic management tenets that remain relevant even today. • He told the farmers that only if they exercised complete control over the entire value-chain of dairy business, will the profits come back to them. • The farmers should control not only milk ‘production’, but also ‘milk procurement’, ‘processing’ and ‘marketing’. • In others words, he exhorted the farmers to ‘eliminate middlemen’ and the only means of achieving the same would be to set up their own ‘cooperative organization’. 9 The strike succeeded in its objectives as monopolistic restrictions on procurement were removed. The colonial government condescendingly agreed to let the farmers form their cooperative, under the false premise that “illiterate farmers – who could not read or write English – would not be able to run their cooperative beyond two days. After all, “Kaira district wasn’t exactly New Zealand or Denmark ”. That an organization which started with two small village-level societies, could one day become a 5.8 Billion Dollar organization was beyond their wildest imagination. In the meantime, Dr. Kurien acquired his Masters degree from MSU and returned to India. Since Dr. Kurien had come to MSU on a Government of India’s scholarship, he was obliged to serve the government for some years and he was accordingly assigned to a Government creamery in Anand, then a remote sleepy town in Western India, with population of around 10,000 people. Dr. Verghese Kurien arrived in 10 Anand on Friday, 13th May 1949, with the intention of packing his bags and leaving at the earliest opportunity. Little did he know that he would find his life’s calling there and end up spending rest of his life; another 63 years, in Anand. Dr. Kurien was not too happy with his initial days in Anand and repeatedly offered to resign from his position but his resignation was repeatedly rejected by the Government. From the lively, vibrant, liberal environment at MSU, he found it extremely difficult to settle down in a tiny town, where he had no productive work to do in his Government dairy and where no one would even give a house on rent to a non-vegetarian, bachelor. Such was his plight that he was actually had to live in a tiny garage, a building which has been preserved till this date in Anand, in the fond memory of the man who generated global fame for this little town.