Kurien died at around 1.15 a.m. at Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital in Nadiad, about 25 kms from Anand
[ Source: http://businessworld.in/en/storypage/-/bw/father-of-white-revolution-kurien-dead/524900.0/page/0]
[ Reference: BIZZY BYTES ISSUE
Click on the above link to download ]
The father of 'white revolution' Dr Verghese Kurien,
who transformed India from a milk-deficient country to the world's
largest milk producer and the founder of Amul, passed away on 10 Sep 2012 after a
brief illness. Kurien, 90, is survived by wife Molly Kurien and
daughter Nirmala.
His mortal remains were
consigned to flames in the presence of priests from different religions.
The last rites were performed by his grandson Siddharth. Respecting his
last wish, Kurien was cremated. Kurien died at around 1.15 a.m. at
Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital in Nadiad, about 25 kms from here.
His body was brought to his residence here and kept in Sardar Hall of
Amul dairy in Anand, where people paid homage. His professional life was
dedicated to empower Indian farmers through co-operatives.
Kurien
joined Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union Limited in
1949, on the request of Tribhuvandas Patel, the then dairy chairman. The
dairy was formed at the initiative of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel. Later,
Patel asked Kurien to help set up a dairy processing plant, which saw
the birth of Amul, which became a successful cooperative model. Kurien
is also credited with being the first one to produce powder from buffalo
milk, when elsewhere in the world, cow milk was used to produce milk
powder.
Impressed by the success of Amul, former
Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri established National Dairy
Development Board (NDDB) to replicate the Amul model across the country
and Kurien was made its chairman. As Chairman of NDDB, Kurien led
'Operation Flood' to make India the biggest milk producing nation in the
world, besides making Amul a household name. NDDB launched 'Operation
Flood' in 1970, making India the largest milk producer in the world. He
served as chairman of NDDB for 33 years from 1965 to 1998.
Paying
rich tributes to Kurien, President Pranab Mukherjee said he had made
enormous contribution in the fields of agriculture, rural development
and dairy. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Vice President Hamid Ansari
also expressed their condolences on his death. Ansari said Kurien was
credited with being the architect of the largest dairy development
programme in the world-- Operation Flood.
Terming
him as an icon of Indian co-operative movement and dairy industry,
Singh said in his long and illustrious career, Kurien set up the Anand
model of co-operative dairy development and engineered the white
revolution. Described as the undisputed 'Milkman of India', Kurien had
received national and international recognition.
The Indian government had conferred on him Padmashri in 1965,
Padmabhushan in 1966 and Padma Vibhushan in 1999. 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 26 November 1921, Kurien had graduated in science from Loyola
College in Chennai (1940) and obtained his degree in engineering from
Guindy College of Engineering also in Chennai.
Posts
