As the country celebrated National Milk Day on Tuesday on the occasion of the 98th birth day of Dr Verghese Kurien, also known as the Milk Man of India, a group of 50 youngsters on motorbikes reached their final destination Anand, spreading the messages of the Kurien legacy on the way. They completed their 12 day bike rally covering 2500 km that began from Varanasi and criss-crossed through many cities inspired by Dr Verghese Kurien.
Every year on November 26, India celebrates the birth anniversary of Dr Verghese Kurien, Father of White Revolution in India, as National Milk Day. This year, GCMMF Ltd. which markets the popular brand ‘Amul’, had organized the third edition of its mega motorbike rally to commemorate Kurien’s birth anniversary. The rally which was flagged off from Varanasi on November 15 reached its grand finale in the milk city of Anand, which is also the karmabhoomi[ land of action] of Dr Verghese Kurien.
Dilip Rath, Chairman, NDDB, eulogized Dr Kurien and the legacy he has left behind; he stressed on our responsibility to take his work to every corner of the country and bowed down his head as a mark of respect to The Milkman of India. He urged the youth of today to
pledge to work tirelessly, inspired by the ideals of Dr. Verghese Kurien. He also reminisced about the contributions made by Dr. Kurien to strengthen the economic status of millions of farmers and milk producers of India, thus making the country self sufficient in milk.
It was his efforts that made AMUL the real power house representing the strength of smallest of farmers in Gujarat. It was this success that transformed the Anand Pattern so popular across the country.
Dr. R.S Sodhi, MD, GCMMF appreciated the mega motorbike rally as a great way of celebrating National Milk Day as it has done the job of “connecting all the institutions, the legendary Dr Verghese Kurien has built. He recounted how Dr. Kurien was very particular about time management and the values of Dr. Kurien that the generation of today can learn from. He remembered the era when youth were so inspired by the revolution brought by Dr. Kurien of Rural Development, that they dreamt of walking in his footsteps by joining IRMA – the
Ramsinh Parmar, Chairman, GCMMF and Kaira DCMPU, eulogized Dr Kurien for choosing to live with the dairy farmers whom he had considered as his own, and thus ensuring that ‘my farmer’ attained more and more prosperity. He also reminisced about how he had been in touch with Dr Kurien for 30 years of his life and how it built his faith in the power of cooperatives.
The young bikers too shared their experiences and expressed how all the grand welcomes; respect and garlanding they had received were not for them but for one individual who is Dr Verghese Kurien. All the bikers were felicitated by the dignitaries.
This 12-day motorbike rally spanning over 2800 km saw participation of a team of professional riders, including 6 women riders, who have been part of the previous editions of National Milk Day rally 1.0 and 2.0. They were given the responsibility of mentoring the new riders who have joined us this year from across India. Our 50 riders represent 20 out of 28 states of India and are working in the dairy industry and have volunteered to participate. Throughout their journey, the bikers met people and visited institutions created and inspired by Dr Verghese Kurien. In a style that would attract the Indian youth,
‘#CelebratingDrKurien’ will explore the life and work of the man who turned India from a milk deficient nation into one of the largest producers of milk in the world.
Heads of various institutions in Anand created by Dr Verghese Kurien were also present on this occasion. Dr Amol Pavangadkar, from Michigan State University, USA – who is the director of movie on Dr Kurien specially attended the program.