Dr Verghese Kurien, Milk Man of India, passes away
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- Current News
- Sunday, 09 September 2012 19:49
- Published on Sunday, 09 September 2012 13:49
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Gujarat Global News Network, Ahmedabad
It is a sad day for the country as Dr Verghese Kurien, the Man behind the white revolution in the country passed away early on Sunday morning following a brief spell of illness in Nadiad, Gujarat. He was 90.
Dr Kurien became a household name after he successfully piloted Operation Flood, turning India into the world's largest producer of milk from what was once a milk deficient country.
He was born on November 26, 1921, in Kozhikode, Kerala. After graduating with a degree in physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940, Dr Kurien got his bachelor’s in mechanical engineering from Madras University.
After a small stint with the Tata Iron and Steel Company in Jamshedpur, he got the Indian government’s scholarship and went to the US where he earned a Masters degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University in 1948.
After his return for the US, he was assigned to the government creamery at Anand to serve his bond period for a scholarship he had taken for his studies.
Once his bond period was over, Dr Kurien was all set to leave Anand for Mumbai, but the then chairman of Amul Dairy, Tribhuvandas Patel, requested him to help install machinery at the dairy. Kurien agreed, and then never left.
What started as the first dairy cooperative union in Gujarat with just two villages as members, today has 16,100 member unions, with 3.2 million members pouring milk into GCMMF twice a day.
Dr Kurien was the chairman of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) from 1965 to 1998. During his stint at NDDB, he piloted the 'Operation Flood' - the largest dairy development programme in the world.
Today, India's milk procurement has graduated from 20 million metric tonnes annually in 1960s to 122 million metric tonnes in 2011.
During the end of his career, Dr Kurien, had a painful exit from all the institutions he founded. While he made way for his protégé Dr Amrita Patel to succeed him as chairman of NDDB in 1998, in 2006 he stepped down as founder-chairman of both GCMMF and IRMA. His detractors felt he was unduly clinging on to power.
Dr Kurien was called ‘Jolly’ by his family members, a name that rhymed with his wife’s name, Molly. Dr Kurien leaves behind his wife, daughter Nirmala and grandson Siddhartha.
Kurien was born a Christian but, in keeping with his wish, he was cremated according to Hindu ritual. Prior to the cremation, an all-religion prayer was held with a Christian priest and a Maulvi offering prayers. Then his body was taken to a crematorium where his 24-year-old grandson, Siddhartha, performed the last rites.
Honours, awards and international recognition given to Dr Kurien:
|
Year |
Name of Award or Honor |
Awarding Organization |
|
2012 |
Gangadharan Memorial Award |
V. Gangadharan Memorial Trust |
|
2011 |
Life Time Achievement Award |
CNN-IBN |
|
2010 |
Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) |
Karunya University |
|
2010 |
Doctor of Science (Honoris Causa) |
Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda |
|
2007 |
Karmaveer Puraskaar |
iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs |
|
2007 |
Godfrey Phillips National Bravery Award |
Godfrey Phillips India Ltd |
|
2006 |
Doctor of Science |
Tamil Nadu Agricultural University |
|
2002 |
Lokmanya Tilak award |
Lokmanya Tilak Trust |
|
1999 |
Padma Vibhushan |
Government of India |
|
1991 |
Doctor of Science |
University of Guelph, Canada. |
|
1991 |
Distinguished Alumni Award |
Michigan State University, USA. |
|
1989 |
World Food Prize |
World Food Prize, USA. |
|
1986 |
Wateler Peace Prize Award |
Carnegie Foundation, USA. |
|
1986 |
Krushi Ratna Award |
Government of India. |
|
1966 |
Padma Bhushan |
Government of India. |
|
1965 |
Doctor of Science |
Michigan State University, USA. |
|
1965 |
Padma Shri |
Government of India. |
|
1963 |
Ramon Magsaysay Award |
Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation |
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