Verghese Kurien, was the architect of white revolution that changed India from a milk-deficient country to the world’s biggest milk producer. He laid the foundation of the nation’s co-operative dairy industry.

Recognized as the ‘Milkman of India’, who created the billion dollar brand Amul passed away on Sunday morning at the age of 90.

The Indian government had conferred on him the Padma Vibhushan while he was also the recipient of World Food Price,Ramon Magsaysay award for Community Leadership, Carnegie Wateler World Peace Prize and International Person of the Year award from US.

Born in Kozhikode, Kerala on November 26, 1921, Kurien had graduated in science from Loyola College in Chennai (1940) and obtained his degree in engineering from the Guindy College of Engineering in Chennai.

After a stint at TISCO, Jamshedpur, Kurien got the Government of India’s (GoI) scholarship to study dairy engineering.

Following specialized training at Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry and Dairying in Bangalore, Kurien went to the United States where he completed his masters’ degree in mechanical engineering, with dairy engineering as a minor subject, from the Michigan State University in 1948.

On his return Dr Kurien was assigned to join Government Creamery located at Anand in Gujarat to serve his bond period. By the end of 1949, Kurien got release orders from his job at the creamery.

Kurien joined Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers’ Union Limited in 1949, on the request of Tribhuvandas Patel, then dairy chairman. The dairy was formed at the initiative of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel.

And thus began his journey which threw him to global lime light. Kurien was visionary no doubt as no one before him had understood the power of networking farmers into a unit and producing milk collectively.

Cooperative model came handy and he exploited it the hilt to go into history as one of the brightest sons of India.

Cooperative Central Arecanut and Cocoa Marketing and Processing Cooperative (Campco) has entered into an agreement with Madhya Pradesh Cooperative Dairy Federation to sell their chocolates at Sanchi milk vends of the Federation.

Sanchi a well known Budhist tourist destination in MP would soon offer choice chocolates to its visitors

Sources say Campco a multi-state cooperative body of Karnataka and Kerala drawing its strength from tens of thousands of farmers is set to expand its business in new areas of the country.

Producing coco, beans, betel nut and rubber has been the core business of Campco, sources add. Campco, a successful cooperative venture was in news recently when it fought against ban on plastic pouches in Supreme Court. Campco President Padmanabh told Indian Cooperative of a long drawn fight on the issue.

Karnataka Milk Federation is presently in crisis as its chairman G.S. Reddy, brother of mining Mafioso and former minister G. Janardan Reddy has been arrested on a charge of bribing a judge to get bail for his brother imprisoned for illegal mining activities.

The Karnataka govt has decided to hold soon a meeting of the KMF board so as to keep the organisation running well, Karnataka minister of cooperation B.J. Puttaswamy told.

The minister, however, refused to spell out the agenda for the board meeting and action his govt. would take against the present chairman languishing in judicial custody in Andhra Pradesh.

The  documents  concerning  the  procurement of cattle feed by the KMF at  a very high cost would be  thoroughly examined and suitable action taken against those involved in the scam, the minister  added.

The minister asserted the govt. had the necessary powers to call a meeting of the federation.

Meanwhile, the Karnatak govt has decided to write off Rs 20,000 loan taken by farmers as the farming community is suffering  all kinds of problems due to drought in the state, the minister noted

Die is cast, it’s a fight between Parthi Bhatol and Vipul Chaudhary in the election of Gujarat Cooperative Marketing Milk Federation (GCMMF), the owner of famous brand Amul.

Till recently Bhatol was being coy and not declaring his name. He was probably waiting for the green light from the High Command. But on Sunday while talking to Indian Cooperative.com he said he is very much in race.

Bhatol would file nomination on 18th August, the day of the GCMMF election. Obeying the court orders the Deputy Commissioner of Anand had announced the election schedule. Vipul Chaudhary would also file nomination on the same day.

Vipul Chaudhary is representing the milk union, Dudhsagar of Mehsana while Bhatol represents Banas dairy.

Though Bhatol was careful enough not to drop any hint, it is obvious that he has had some positive response from Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

But Indian Cooperative has reliably learnt that though Modi favours Bhatol he is yet to signal his choice to the different milk unions
counting sixteen.

Majority of the milk unions, about 12 are controlled by the ruling party while the remaining four are in the Congress fold. Modi, himself caught neck-deep into the preparations for the assembly elections would spell out his choice, according to his close aide, a couple of days only before the election.

The delay is necessitated by the fact that Vipul Cahudhary, the challenger of Bhatol also belongs to the BJP fold. Modi would not like to displease anybody without reasons. He is possibly assessing the loss or the gain of supporting either of the candidates in the larger context of the state election due in November.

But what is clear is that the Congress MLA and Chairman of milk union Amul , Ramsinh Parmar stands no chance.

His effort to upset Bhatol by siding with Vipul Chaudhary is fraught with risks for Vipul as his party would not take kindly to his seeking support from outsiders.

Vipul’s detractors accuse him of not conducting the affairs of Dudhsagar in a fair and progressive manner. His disposition and way of treating people are also not liked by many.

There are many who oppose Bhatol too and cite numerous cases of irregularity at Banas dairy. The current subtle war may get louder as the election day gets closer.

In a show of her appreciation of the good work put in by the 17 milk cooperatives in  the state of Tamil Nadu, Chief  Minister Jayalalitha   has given them an incentive of  more than Rs.26 crore to work still harder in the future.

According to the government statement, these cooperatives have earned additional revenue totaling about Rs 50 crore.

Official source claims, Chief Minister’s generous gesture would benefit more than two lakh milk farmers belonging to the successful cooperatives in the state.

Analysts say Tamil Nadu under Jayalalitha’s leadership is a place where the cooperative movement is gathering momentum.

Dairy farmers in Punjab are demanding a hike in milk procurement price. Their union PDFA has held out a threat that its members would stop supplying milk to Milkfed if its demand is not met.

According to PDFA president Daljeet Singh Gill, they would soon be meeting to decide about the date of their agitation.

Knowledgeable sources say as Milkfed is not in a mood to have a confrontation with dairy farmers indications are it would accept their demand.

Sources add the dairy sector is in a bad way for a variety of reasons. The cost of cattle feed rising high suddenly has made the whole dairy business unattractive. This explains why farmers are demanding Rs. 485 per kg fat as against the present amount of Rs. 405 per kg fat.

Milkfed collects a total of 8 lakh litres of milk per day in Punjab. However, despite several difficulties including a huge spike in the fodder cost dairy farmers are up against,they have yet to benefit from a hike in milk procurement price. It is in this situation that farmers are facing financial problems.

GCMMF popularly known as Amul has made a name for itself as a company that sells dairy products. Amul girl has no doubt played an important role in branding its image. But Indian Cooperative has found out another reason behind its great reputation.

The incident is small yet significant. It shows how an organization gets built.

One of the readers based in Delhi wrote in the comment box of one of the stories of Indian Cooperative that the milk being supplied by Amul for the last three days had been stale.

Indian Cooperative forwarded the comment to R S Sodhi , Managing Director of Amul Monday evening. Mr Sodhi wrote back immediately asking for e-mail and other details of the complainant which Indian Cooperative supplied happily.

And then a torrent of communications started from the MD’s desk for the entire day. Next morning the comment-writer Sanjay JIndal ,a resident of Patparganj in Delhi was startled to find a whole team of Amul officials descending on his residence.

Taken aback by the fast-paced development he writes “

With reference to my complaint about Amul milk, I had posted on your portal, I wasn’t expecting any response at all, but I am very happy to inform you that they took notice and made an effort to understand and resolve the issue.

Amul’s representative visited me today and replaced the bad milk. He also assured me that they will also deal with the distributor who had refused to change the delivery and refused to replace the bad milk. But something to follow up if anything happens or not!

I also asked him if the entire customer who got the spoiled milk for few days, would they get the refund and he said yes, that they are going to process refunds thru the dealer network. Again something to watch if Amul would really do anything on this or these is just empty assurances.

Thanks again for your initiative. This gives encouragement to consumers who sometime think that there is no point in complaining because nothing will happen.

Regards
Sanjay Jindal sanjay.jindal@netsutra.com

Sodhi acting with alacrity and dispatch is something that could not only be useful for the cooperatives but also for our corporates. It is because of this kind of attitude that Amul takes on the India Inc and is a jewel of the Cooperative world. Will other MDs take cue from him?

Question:
I am George from Chittur District Kozijampara. I want to start a farm dairy as I have land in my name and my approximate production is 100 litres of milk per day. In a month it adds up to 3000 litres.
Will the society take milk if we wish to give or anything else you could suggest?

I C Naik:

Please Contact

Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.,
Milma Bhavan,
Thiruvananthapuram-695004.
E-mail milma@milma.com

Website www.milma.com

Chairman 0471- 2555991/ 2555981
Managing Director 0471- 2555993

Ask them to put you in touch with the nearest milk collection centre.

Question: I would like to start co-operative in my village and panchyat, initially I would like to work in the field of Dairy/Agriculture/Fruit and flower production.

I want to know how can I start it and from where will l arrange fund for these activities?

Is there any manual on cooperatives to guide any new entrant? Please help me so that I can go ahead with forming a cooperative. Alok Tiwary

I C Naik: Provisions incorporating a Co-operative Society in a village are laid down in the Cooperative Societies Act enacted by the State. Minimum number of members who can register a Cooperative Society is prescribed in that Act which is normally a two digit number, all being unrelated to each other.

Important criteria examined before registration is economic viability of a proposed society. Since an agriculture produce society is proposed the Agriculture Marketing Produce Society may be contacted to assess and estimate marketing prospects before-hand.

Following these steps are essential requirements. After these are accomplished a good ground for registering a co-operative is ready.

Finance is not scarce in this country, what is scarce is well meaning citizens who can work shoulder to shoulder on any project with patience and enthusiasm.

A new experiment in dairy development is in the works in Dharwad in Karnataka.  Dharwar district cooperative milk producers societies union (Damul) is the organization that has begun the experiment. The   latter consists in offering quality milk and milk products on the lowest possible price.

Damul is set to increase its milk collection and processing capacity in the days ahead. It already covers a huge swathe of the state providing milk to consumers at a reasonable price. The company gives milk producers a good price, for good measure.

Modelled on the famous Gujarat Amul , Damul  is known for making available on the market  the popular  brand ‘ nandini’

Damul is also diverting its surplus milk into confectionery producing popular sweets such as Mysore Pak and Dharwrd Peda.

Damul’s great success can be put down to its competitive edge in terms of prices of its various products and a very effective network of venders and selling points claimed its MD.

Damul is technology savvy as it has always been active rationalizing its technological applications. The company has recently set up a series of  milk coolers and chilling  centers  in the areas covered by it.