Dr Kurien was a blend of ideology, business sense, integrity, humility, professionalism and purpose. In his life and work, he consistently put the people of the country above himself. He strongly believed that empowering the rural masses was the key to India’s development. His efforts cultivated an ethic of cooperation between farmers, local brands and consumers, turning India from a milk-deficient nation to a major milk exporter.

1. Verghese
Kurien
Father of White Revolution of India
Shwetha Iyer

2. — Verghese Kurien
“In every crisis, if you look carefully, you
will spot an opportunity. My insistence is
on finding and seizing that opportunity.”

3. Contents
01
Early Life
and Education
Contribution
04
Awards and
Honours
05
02
Reason for
Choosing Him
Work
Takeaways
06
03

4. Reason for Choosing Him
Dr Kurien was a blend of ideology, business sense, integrity, humility, professionalism
and purpose. In his life and work, he consistently put the people of the country above
himself. He strongly believed that empowering the rural masses was the key to India’s
development.
His efforts cultivated an ethic of cooperation between farmers, local brands and
consumers, turning India from a milk-deficient nation to a major milk exporter. This
immense contribution to society is what inspired me to choose him for this
presentation.

5. Early Life
and Education
01

6. ● Kurien was born on 26th November, 1921 in
Kozhikode, Kerala, to a Syrian Christian family.
● His father, Dr P. K. Kurien was civil surgeon in
British Cochin. His mother was a highly
educated woman and a piano player.
● He joined Loyola College in Madras at the age of
14, and graduated from there in 1940 with a BSc
in Physics.
● He also obtained a bachelor’s degree in
Mechanical Engineering from Guindy College of
Engineering in 1943. Then he joined the Tata
Iron and Steel Co. as a graduate apprentice.

7. ● After two years, he left TISCO and obtained a government scholarship to study Dairy
Engineering.
● He spent nine months training at the Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry and Dairying,
Bangalore, before he left for Michigan State University. There he finished his MSc in
Mechanical Engineering in 1948, with minors in nuclear physics and dairy engineering.
● In 1949, he went to Anand, Gujarat, where he was to serve 5 bond years as an officer in the
dairy division of a government creamery.
● Kurien wanted to quit the job mid-way but Tribhuvandas Patel, chairman of Kaira District
Cooperative Milk Producers Union (now known as ‘Amul’), convinced Kurien to join forces
with him.

8. Work
02

9. ● Kurien continued to work in the cooperative
(now called Amul) and soon rose to become
its manager. Under his leadership, the
organization acquired equipment to process,
store and distribute dairy products.
● Amul linked dairy farmers in the villages
directly to consumers in the market by
eliminating middlemen. This ensured a
steady and regular income for the farmers,
and raised the quality of products for
consumers.

10. Kurien established several organizations
to replicate the Amul model across India:
● Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing
Federation (GCMMF)
● National Dairy Development Board
(NDDB)
● Institute of Rural Management, Anand
(IRMA)
In 1970, he launched a movement
called ‘Operation Flood’ (also called
‘white revolution’), which aimed to
raise India’s milk production while
augmenting rural incomes and
keeping fair prices for customers.
This would reduce poverty among
participating farmers while ensuring
steady supply of milk in return.

11. Contributions
03

12. ● Through an investment of Rs. 1700 crores spread across 25 years, Operation Flood helped
to raise India’s milk production to Rs. 55000 crores per annum. This transformed India
from a milk-deficient nation into the world's largest milk producer, surpassing the United
States of America in 1998.
● Operation Flood also improved the lives of the rural dairy farmers of India. It helped
farmers direct their own development by giving them control over the resources they
create. Today over 10 million farmers at 200 dairies across India produce over 20 million
litres of milk a day.
● India’s milk procurement has increased from 20 million metric tonnes per year in the 60s to
122 million metric tonnes in 2011.

13. Growth of Milk Production
in India (1950 to Present)

14. Awards and
Achievements
04

15. Ramon Magsaysay
Award
1963
Krishi Ratna
Wateler Peace
Prize
1986
Padma Shri
1965
Padma Bhushan
1966
World Food Prize
1989 1999
International
Person of the
Year
1993
Order of
Agricultural
Merit
1997
Padma Vibhushan

16. Takeaways from his story:
Dr Kurien has taught us that businesses should exist not just to make
profits, but also to benefit our society. His efforts have laid the foundation
of democratic enterprises, showing a way to ensure economic justice by
people’s participation. He proved to us that greatest assets of this country
are its people, and by harnessing the power of the people in a manner that
promotes their larger interests, we can take this country to the next level.

17. References
● https://drkurien.com/biography/
● https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verghese_Kurien
● https://www.amuldairy.com/dr_kurien.php
● https://amul.com/m/dr-v-kurien

18. Thank
You.