Several people took to social media to greeting the man who made India from a milk deficient country into the largest producer of milk in the world. An icon of India’s cooperative movement and the dairy industry Dr Verghese Kurien had passed away this very day on 9 September 2012.
Verghese Kurien was born on 26 November 1921 at Kozhikode in Kerala, India and died on 9 September 2012 at Nadiad in Gujarat, India.
Known as Father of while revolution and the Milk Man of India, Kurien though did not himself touch milk ever in his life but ensured its supply among the needy millions in the country. GCMMF paid tributes to the legend by its topical saying “you are as much in our dreams as in promises”.
Verghese Kurien helped establish the Amul cooperative which has become India’s largest food brand. He found the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in the year 1965.
He received a number of accolades and awards including Ramon Magsaysay Award, 1963 and Padma Vibhushan in 1999. The fact that he was not awarded Bharat Ratna is resented till date by many.
Several people including Chattisgarh Chief Minister Ram Singh remembered him through social media. R S Sodhi, Managing Director of dairy cooperative major Amul, will deliver the Kurien Memorial Lecture at Michigan State University in the US on September 13.