The Nation remembers its Milk Man Varghese Kurien on his birth centenary today (Friday) for the white revolutions, the team of him and Tribhuvandas Patel ushered in the country. The Central govt has joined dairy co-ops across states in celebrating the Day as National Milk Day.
Kurien’s unique co-op model of empowering rural women has no parallel in the world. The Department of Animal Husbandry and Dairying has lined up programs to commemorate his birth centenary at the T K Patel Auditorium, NDDB Campus in Anand. The event starts at 10:00 AM onward and will end by 2.00 PM.
The event is being jointly organized by the Department with National Dairy Development Board and other institutions created by Dr. Kurien. “KadamForKurien all gather at the NDDB ground after the walkathon for forming a human portrait to celebrate #KahaniKurienKi and #DeshKaDoodhwala”, tweeted NDDB.
Earlier, in the inaugural address during the Dr. Kurien Mahotsav, NDDB Chairman Meenesh Shah said Dr. Verghese Kurien had the utmost faith in farmers’ wisdom & ability to judge what is best for them. This trait helped him create a network of self-sustaining cooperatives.
During the ceremony, Union Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairying Parshottam Rupala will confer National Gopal Ratna Awards to the winners of the Best Dairy Farmer rearing indigenous cattle/buffalo breeds, Best Artificial Insemination Technician, and Best Dairy Cooperative Society (DCS)/ Milk Producer Company/ Dairy Farmer Producer Organization in the country.
Besides the felicitation of the winners, Rupala will also launch IVF Lab at Dhamrod, Gujarat and Hessergatta, Karnataka, and Start-up Grand Challenge 2.0. MoS Dr. L.Murugan and Sanjeev Kumar Balyan are also slated to attend.
Earlier, as a part of the centenary year celebrations, all organizations created and conceptualized by Dr. Kurien joined hands to take out a cycling rally called “Dr. Kurien Memorial Cycle Rally”. It was flagged -off by the District Collector and Superintendent of Police.
Kurien, the man who made India proud by writing a script of white revolution through cooperatives was, before anything else, a votary of empowerment of the downtrodden. Amul was his baby and through it, he liberated millions of farmers from the clutches of poverty.
In the process, he also restored the pride of the cooperative model and proved its superiority compared to capitalist or command economy.
