I wrote this 2 and a half years ago, but reading about Kurien brought this back. I feel a sense of patriotism in this and I cannot say this is who I am today (a wholly different matter). I still feel equally humbled when i think about the story behind the white revolution and I think that he was a truly remarkable man in what he did for a thirsty land of 1 billion people.
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I remember reading in school about the Swadeshi Movement. I hear stories from many septuagenerians about how they or their parents burned their imported goods in support of Indian produce.
About Gandhi insisting on Khadi, or the institutionalisation of the village Gram Udhyogs....
About how they breathed new life into the dying backbone of a land that primarily lives in its ruralities.
One of the finest exapmles of a movement for the people, by the people, of the people and perhaps one of the only successful ones to have not been diluted by foreign ownership or interference, one that stands today, worldwide, as a prime example of co-operative success and ever-increasing growth, one that has achieved for India many feathers in her cap, one that is so large as an institution but is so diluted and insignificant in its ownership, one that is local yet is known nationally, internationally and has become almost synonymous with the common man of India as a brand that they can rely on for a commodity that India cannot do without. No matter how rich or poor you are in India everyone knows that in any household, in any far flung corner of my land, a guest is showered with hospitality (in its most humble form) with 'ek cup chai' (one cup of tea) and the main component in chai is MILK.
Think of the journey of MILK. In a rural land,somewhere in India, a cow feeds on grass and fodder. A poor farmer struggling with the education of 3 kids and the financial burden of marriage of his oldest daughter, MILKS his 4 cows (perhaps his only wealth) and hands over whatever amount of MILK he has collected to a local MILK collection centre. They weigh it, measure certain parameters (fat etc) and make a record against his name. At the end of the month, or week, (im not so sure) he is paid for the MILK he has supplied. That MILK is collected by the collection centre and then taken to a dairy, pasteurized, homogenized, etc , packaged and distributed all over India. That MILK reaches the man living in a hut, or the man paying well over 300RS for a creme brulee in a fine dine.
He is essentially what is keeping the poor farmer in the village able to continue the education of his children and marry off his daughter. The man of India is breating sustenance into the life of those who do not possess much.
So what makes it possible for the illiterate, poor farmer to market his good across the sub-continent? well to begin with, he owns a dairy complete with world-class processing and packaging machinery, has a marketing department, has an advertising campaign for his goods, that is the longest running ad campaign of any product in the WORLD, so .... its possible. Confused? Why is he poor then?
In 1946, a year before India became the largest democracy in the world, in a little village in Gujarat the situation was far from democratic. Marginal milk producers, who produced perhaps 1-2 litres of MILK in a day would carry their MILK to Anand, somtimes the MILK would go sour in the intense heat of the Gujarat sun and upon reaching, they were forced to sell their MILK to agents and middlemen of the Polson Dairy (the only butter available uptil a few years after independence) who exploited them by buying their MILK at low prices that the farmers couldnt afford. But Polson was a monopoly in supplying MILK products to bombay, so the farmers had no where to turn, but to live under exploitation.
Frustrated by a situation that had no soultion, the farmers of Kaira District (in which lies the town of Anand) took their grievances to Sardar Vallabhai Patel (who would be the first Deputy PM and Home Minister of free India). He adviced the leader of the farmers, Tribhuvandas Patel, to form a Co-operative and supply MILK directly to the Bombay Milk Union, instead of going through Polson. Thus the Kaira District Union was formed. Kaira Union has now become synonymous with perhaps one of Indias most recognizable and important brands, AMUL, the brand under which they sold their products. Similar stories followed in 5 other Districts in Gujarat. In order to simplify the marketing and selling of their goods, they formed the GCMMF; Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation. GCMMF became the apex body which owned brands like AMUL etc and marketed goods of all its Unions across the subcontinent and across the world.
Upon seeing the success of these Co-ops, in 1964 the then PM of India, Lal Bahadur Shatri asked the manager and the man behind so much of Kaira Union's success, Dr. Kurien to replicate such models all over India, to make her a self sustaining MILK producer. This project came to be called "Operation Flood". The implementation and the phenomenal success of Op.Flood resulted in India's WHITE REVOLUTION. A pivotal point in the history of a land of near 1 billion people, becoming self-sustained in the supply of an indespensable commodity.
When the first union of GCMMF (kaira) was formed India featured no where near the Top MILK producing nations of the world. Post the white revolution India has now become the largest producer of MILK in the world. And it's largest consumer. Just like Gold.
In 2009, India produced a staggering 110 Million Metric Tons (!!!!!!!!) of MILK and is growing at 4% each year. It still cannot meet the demand of MILK in the country. A recent talk of importing even 5% of shortage will casue MILK prices to rise Worldwide.
This was possible because a group of poor, wronged farmers decided they would take no more.
They struggled to fight oppression and unfair monopoly to become ONE OF THE WORLDS FINEST EXAMPLES OF CO-OPERATIVE SUCCESS!
It makes me think. The Milk that comes to me today is enriching the life of a poor farmer somewhere in my country, whose father 5 decades ago rebelled for justice. It is uplifting rural societies by making them self sufficient.
Not only does the farmer get a fair price for the MILK he sells, at the end of each year, ALL PROFITS ARE DISTRIBUTED in proportion to individual contribution, AMONGST THE FARMERS.
They really do own the Dairies, the Brand, everything!
Today it is a name worth 7000crores (1.5 Billion USD) owned by over 2 million farmers... This is true independence, true democracy!
It really makes me proud to be an Indian, because movements like this happen once in a long while, but it is possible only in India.
A land of hope, possibilities and dreams.
Kraft foods, is going to enter India in the near future.
The only one the fear is AMUL. The only Giant in their League.
This is a moment when I will have to make a conscientous decision. Will i buy Kraft products? AMUL makes everything Kraft does...!
Kraft does not belong to my people, nor does it benefit the farmers of my land.
This will be my time to be Swadeshi, a belief and commitment that the products of my land are the ones ill consume.
I will remember that the Unions never refuse any farmer no matter how much MILK they already have. The farmers can sell Half Litre or even a 100. It provides them with security. Dignity in bieng independent yet powerful.
AMUL makes it possible for the average Indian to enjoy ice-cream on rare occasions, to help spread butter on their pavs without having to compromise on price or quality.
It keeps the otherwise exploitive multinationals in check on their price.
But more than Anything, I remember that it empowers people by accepting on an average, 8.4 million lts of MILK a day. That its uplifting rural societies and as the farmer's son aspires to be a mechanic or an electrician, the Unions remain a beacon of hope, a legacy in work even today,reminding them that it will always be around, least their business fail.
I will most certainly keep AMUL my brand of choice, because I love my land and this is how i can be a patriot, without bieng violent; this is how i can enable progress, without doing much, this is how i can ensure that power stays where it should, in the hands of the people.
(and ofcourse above all, the quality is uncompromised, so why should i not!)
So, while i do not endorse that one must not buy Kraft, the next time you see AMUL products think of the journey of that product and how it empowers someone in a far away village. No choice is right or wrong. But one definitely empowers people who have little and it puts back a smile, a house, an education - a livelihood back where it is needed most. In the micro-plasma of India…. it's tiny villages we dont know of, it's rural homes we never enter, it's schools that we never sit in.
The white revolution, with it's humble beginings is a story that still manages to infuse hope and inspiration at a time when our new enemy has taken a form slightly different than the middlemen of the Polson dairy. The need to act remains.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I remember reading in school about the Swadeshi Movement. I hear stories from many septuagenerians about how they or their parents burned their imported goods in support of Indian produce.
About Gandhi insisting on Khadi, or the institutionalisation of the village Gram Udhyogs....
About how they breathed new life into the dying backbone of a land that primarily lives in its ruralities.
One of the finest exapmles of a movement for the people, by the people, of the people and perhaps one of the only successful ones to have not been diluted by foreign ownership or interference, one that stands today, worldwide, as a prime example of co-operative success and ever-increasing growth, one that has achieved for India many feathers in her cap, one that is so large as an institution but is so diluted and insignificant in its ownership, one that is local yet is known nationally, internationally and has become almost synonymous with the common man of India as a brand that they can rely on for a commodity that India cannot do without. No matter how rich or poor you are in India everyone knows that in any household, in any far flung corner of my land, a guest is showered with hospitality (in its most humble form) with 'ek cup chai' (one cup of tea) and the main component in chai is MILK.
Think of the journey of MILK. In a rural land,somewhere in India, a cow feeds on grass and fodder. A poor farmer struggling with the education of 3 kids and the financial burden of marriage of his oldest daughter, MILKS his 4 cows (perhaps his only wealth) and hands over whatever amount of MILK he has collected to a local MILK collection centre. They weigh it, measure certain parameters (fat etc) and make a record against his name. At the end of the month, or week, (im not so sure) he is paid for the MILK he has supplied. That MILK is collected by the collection centre and then taken to a dairy, pasteurized, homogenized, etc , packaged and distributed all over India. That MILK reaches the man living in a hut, or the man paying well over 300RS for a creme brulee in a fine dine.
He is essentially what is keeping the poor farmer in the village able to continue the education of his children and marry off his daughter. The man of India is breating sustenance into the life of those who do not possess much.
So what makes it possible for the illiterate, poor farmer to market his good across the sub-continent? well to begin with, he owns a dairy complete with world-class processing and packaging machinery, has a marketing department, has an advertising campaign for his goods, that is the longest running ad campaign of any product in the WORLD, so .... its possible. Confused? Why is he poor then?
In 1946, a year before India became the largest democracy in the world, in a little village in Gujarat the situation was far from democratic. Marginal milk producers, who produced perhaps 1-2 litres of MILK in a day would carry their MILK to Anand, somtimes the MILK would go sour in the intense heat of the Gujarat sun and upon reaching, they were forced to sell their MILK to agents and middlemen of the Polson Dairy (the only butter available uptil a few years after independence) who exploited them by buying their MILK at low prices that the farmers couldnt afford. But Polson was a monopoly in supplying MILK products to bombay, so the farmers had no where to turn, but to live under exploitation.
Frustrated by a situation that had no soultion, the farmers of Kaira District (in which lies the town of Anand) took their grievances to Sardar Vallabhai Patel (who would be the first Deputy PM and Home Minister of free India). He adviced the leader of the farmers, Tribhuvandas Patel, to form a Co-operative and supply MILK directly to the Bombay Milk Union, instead of going through Polson. Thus the Kaira District Union was formed. Kaira Union has now become synonymous with perhaps one of Indias most recognizable and important brands, AMUL, the brand under which they sold their products. Similar stories followed in 5 other Districts in Gujarat. In order to simplify the marketing and selling of their goods, they formed the GCMMF; Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation. GCMMF became the apex body which owned brands like AMUL etc and marketed goods of all its Unions across the subcontinent and across the world.
Upon seeing the success of these Co-ops, in 1964 the then PM of India, Lal Bahadur Shatri asked the manager and the man behind so much of Kaira Union's success, Dr. Kurien to replicate such models all over India, to make her a self sustaining MILK producer. This project came to be called "Operation Flood". The implementation and the phenomenal success of Op.Flood resulted in India's WHITE REVOLUTION. A pivotal point in the history of a land of near 1 billion people, becoming self-sustained in the supply of an indespensable commodity.
When the first union of GCMMF (kaira) was formed India featured no where near the Top MILK producing nations of the world. Post the white revolution India has now become the largest producer of MILK in the world. And it's largest consumer. Just like Gold.
In 2009, India produced a staggering 110 Million Metric Tons (!!!!!!!!) of MILK and is growing at 4% each year. It still cannot meet the demand of MILK in the country. A recent talk of importing even 5% of shortage will casue MILK prices to rise Worldwide.
This was possible because a group of poor, wronged farmers decided they would take no more.
They struggled to fight oppression and unfair monopoly to become ONE OF THE WORLDS FINEST EXAMPLES OF CO-OPERATIVE SUCCESS!
It makes me think. The Milk that comes to me today is enriching the life of a poor farmer somewhere in my country, whose father 5 decades ago rebelled for justice. It is uplifting rural societies by making them self sufficient.
Not only does the farmer get a fair price for the MILK he sells, at the end of each year, ALL PROFITS ARE DISTRIBUTED in proportion to individual contribution, AMONGST THE FARMERS.
They really do own the Dairies, the Brand, everything!
Today it is a name worth 7000crores (1.5 Billion USD) owned by over 2 million farmers... This is true independence, true democracy!
It really makes me proud to be an Indian, because movements like this happen once in a long while, but it is possible only in India.
A land of hope, possibilities and dreams.
Kraft foods, is going to enter India in the near future.
The only one the fear is AMUL. The only Giant in their League.
This is a moment when I will have to make a conscientous decision. Will i buy Kraft products? AMUL makes everything Kraft does...!
Kraft does not belong to my people, nor does it benefit the farmers of my land.
This will be my time to be Swadeshi, a belief and commitment that the products of my land are the ones ill consume.
I will remember that the Unions never refuse any farmer no matter how much MILK they already have. The farmers can sell Half Litre or even a 100. It provides them with security. Dignity in bieng independent yet powerful.
AMUL makes it possible for the average Indian to enjoy ice-cream on rare occasions, to help spread butter on their pavs without having to compromise on price or quality.
It keeps the otherwise exploitive multinationals in check on their price.
But more than Anything, I remember that it empowers people by accepting on an average, 8.4 million lts of MILK a day. That its uplifting rural societies and as the farmer's son aspires to be a mechanic or an electrician, the Unions remain a beacon of hope, a legacy in work even today,reminding them that it will always be around, least their business fail.
I will most certainly keep AMUL my brand of choice, because I love my land and this is how i can be a patriot, without bieng violent; this is how i can enable progress, without doing much, this is how i can ensure that power stays where it should, in the hands of the people.
(and ofcourse above all, the quality is uncompromised, so why should i not!)
So, while i do not endorse that one must not buy Kraft, the next time you see AMUL products think of the journey of that product and how it empowers someone in a far away village. No choice is right or wrong. But one definitely empowers people who have little and it puts back a smile, a house, an education - a livelihood back where it is needed most. In the micro-plasma of India…. it's tiny villages we dont know of, it's rural homes we never enter, it's schools that we never sit in.
The white revolution, with it's humble beginings is a story that still manages to infuse hope and inspiration at a time when our new enemy has taken a form slightly different than the middlemen of the Polson dairy. The need to act remains.
