'Amul': Story of a Growth ModelAn Unfinished Dream by Verghese KurienReview by: Deepak ShahEconomic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35, No. 24 (Jun. 10-16, 2000), pp. 2018-2019Published by: Economic and Political WeeklyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4409386 .Accessed: 01/11/2012 08:02

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

Economic and Political Weekly is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access toEconomic and Political Weekly.

http://www.jstor.org

'Amul: Story of a

Growth Model

An Unfinished Dream by Verghese Kurien; Tata McGraw-Hill Publishing, New Delhi, 1997; pp xxii + 598, Rs 450.

DEEPAK SHAH

This book provides the fascinating story of'Operation Flood' (the 'White Revo-

lution') that has, over the past three de- cades, provided a constantly increasing sustainable production of milk of improved quality and made it available to consumers in most urban areas of India. Behind this success story is the indomitable spirit, the unrelenting and untiring efforts of one man - Verghese Kurien. The white revo- lution in this country is synonymous with him. It is he and his team of dedicated comrades who are responsible for this wonderful feat in establishing India as the largest producer of milk in the world today. They shared the vision of establishing the cooperative movement on scientific prin- ciples. To lay persons, Verghese Kurien's role in ushering in the milk revolution is largely unknown. He is best known to most as India's 'dudhwala' - the man who built the cooperative structure that reaches millions of small dairy farmers and con- nects them with teeming millions of con- sumers of milk, butter, cheese, chocolates, and a host of other products. To some, he is also known for his fight to liberate cooperatives from archaic legislation, a man who has fought a long battle to ensure that producers have the right to control the resources they create.

The book An Unfinished Dream of Kurien's speeches, spanning nearly 40 years from 1955 to 1994, is the story of the pursuit of a dream. He begins with a clearly defined blueprint for a dairy co- operative marketing structure that would link millions of milk producers with urban consumers. He moves on to enlarge and further refine the nature and power of the cooperative structure incorporating into its statutes the role of the professional and

the obligations of India's elite. Then with the passage of time, he responds to at- tacks: the assaults of bureaucrats who fear the implications of successful institutions run by producers; objections by academi- cians; the sabotage by vested interests and the opposition of international financial institutions and multinationals. In more recent speeches, he turns to the dream renewed - a dream whose importance has been enhanced by the turn of events in India and which has relevance even be- yond India.

The book, with speeches presented in chronological order, is divided into three sections: 'A Dream' (1957-79), 'Defend- ing the Dream' (1980-88), and 'Dream Renewed' (1989-94). To read this book is to travel a path with Kurien. It is a path that leads towards a clear goal amidst many hindrances. He never loses track of his mission objectives.

Kurien speaks with candour, his points crisp, his language lucid, his logic clear, and his humour, directed at himself as well as his adversaries, enriching and illumi- nating. As he himself says, a speech pro- vides him with the opportunity to share and test his thoughts. Those thoughts often test conventional wisdom as well as the beliefs of his audiences.

The entire book covers 57 speeches. The first speech was delivered in 1957 at Anand, Gujarat, on 'Marketing of Milk Products in India' and it was followed by a series of lectures covering a wide spectrum of issues and delivered at various places in the country and abroad including many convocation addresses and keynote ad- dresses. The concluding speech appearing in the book was delivered in 1994 at the 24th International Dairy Congress at Melbome, Australia, on 'Should Dairying Be Encouraged in Developing Countries'.

The first chapter and the first section entitled 'A Dream' deals with the vision of the future of dairying in India. This dream came to fruition when the National Dairy Development Board was founded some 10 years later. Other elements of this visionary dream saw the creation of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation - a federation joining all of

Gujarat's dairy cooperatives under one umbrella and the largest among all the food sector businesses in India. This is a dream about India's future - a future with a just economic order where the rural

people have as much access in the country's progress as their urban counterparts. In

explaining his dream to a variety of audiences, Kurien articulates what, de- cades later, has become the byword of

development: only when those who are

directly concerned with the results of de-

velopment have control over its ends and the means to achieve those ends, will true

development occur. The culminating speech in this section is Kurien's address to the Magsaysay Award Foundation. In it he critically examines the reasons for the success of India's dairy cooperative movement, identifies the areas where he and his colleagues might have erred, and

propounds a thesis about proper develop- ment and suggests appropriate means of realising the goals enshrined in this

development model. The success of Operation Flood launched

in 1970 attracted national and interna- tional attention. Kurien was applauded as the chief architect of India's 'white revo- lution'. The success of the Kaira Union

gave birth to other milk producer's unions in Gujarat. These inspired the formation of 'National Dairy Development Board

(NDDB)' and provided the impetus and resources required for its creation. The NDDB as an institution bore considerable resemblance in design to the Indian Dairy Products' Marketing Board which Kurien had earlier conceived in 1955. Impressed with the achievements in self-sufficiency in milk production, the government of India requested the NDDB to replicate the 'Anand' pattern to other sectors of the food economy, first oilseeds and then fruits and vegetables.

Once NDDB got involved in the veg- etable oil business, the NDDB and its chairman came under fire from all sides - academicians, the press, bureaucrats, the donors who had supported Operation Flood and its off shoots, a host of domestic and

foreign non-governmental organisations, and even senior ministers in the central

government. During this period, as Kurien's speeches in the second section of the book show, he continued to focus on the meaning of development while

fending off attacks on Operation Flood. Kurien was also more direct in drawing attention to the obstacles created and

2018 Economic and Political Weekly June 10, 2000

acknowledges problems where they existed.

Despite the bitter attacks, NDDB and its chairman, Kurien continued to draw support and acclaim. An eminent com- mittee, headed by Prince Claus of the Netherlands, selected Kurien as the winner of the Wateler Peace Prize. An equally eminent committee, chaired by Norman Borlaug, chose Kurien as the third world's Food Prize laureate. But the most important support was provided by the women and men who produce India's milk.

They joined dairy cooperatives in increas- ing numbers, and contributed to build-

ing once of the largest and most successful cooperative enterprises anywhere in the world.

The third section of this book begins with the remarks made by Kurien at news conference held at New Delhi in the after- math of his being declared the recepient of the 1989 World Food Prize. In his

acceptance address, Kurien set out the agenda for the future. He drew attention to the increasing pressures of the north on the south, of the agriculturally and indus- trially advanced nations of the third world. He examined the role of the international financial institutions, GATT, and other international and bilateral agencies in

promoting development that even the nations of the north would reject. He

pointed out the dangers of accepting the dictates of those who would continue to consume vast resources, while preach- ing the virtues of 'appropriate techno-

logy' and environmental protection to the rest of the world. Concerned with the sharp shift in economic policies since the beginning of liberalisation from the fundamental commitment to an equitable social order, Kurien's later speeches cautioned the country against blindly following the model of the 'market-driven' economy.

In his speeches to international audi- ences, whether in Washington at the World Food Prize award ceremony, in Canada speaking to food industry group, or in Australia talking to the International Dairy Congress, Kurien urged his colleagues to use their enormous productive capacity to help build agriculture and agro-based industries in the regions of the south. He dreamt of collaboration between the north and the south, between farmers and their cooperatives, helping to build the agro-industries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. The quintessential dreamer that

he is, Kurien continues to dream of a better world and better living for the men and women whose toils are largely responsible for most of the world's production of food and fibre.

For the concerned citizen, the speeches rise above the mumble of ideology and partisan rhetoric to provide a clear, re- freshing view of how India can better pursue its destiny. rrGi

On the Nilgiris

Bibliographie des Nilgiri/Biblio- graphy for the Nilgiri 1603-1996 by Paul Hockings; Dymset, Universite Michel de Montaigne-Bordeaux; 1996; (Espaces Tropicaux, no 14, 1996) pp xxv + 326, US $ 50.00.

KANAKALATHA MUKUND

s a new resident of the Nilgiris I have Been struck by the vast difference

between the 'public' face of the Nilgiris (as found in the overdeveloped tourist town of Ooty) and the 'private' face of the Nilgiris, as seen in clumps of small houses huddled together on the hill slopes sur- rounded by tea gardens and in the very distinctive lifestyle of the badagas who constitute the main non-tribal local people in the district. The badagas are migrants from the Kannada-speaking areas of the north who settled in the region more than 400 years ago. They are a very upwardly mobile community and are a dominant part of the economic and social landscape of the Nilgiris. The main tribes found in the Nilgiris are the todas, kurumbas, irulas and kotas.

Even as I was wondering why so little is known to the outside world about this aspect of the Nilgiris district, I came across the Bibliographyfor the Nilgiri by the well known anthropologist Paul Hockings. It came as a great surprise to learn that in fact this is the most intensively studied part of rural Asia, and Hockings supports this claim with a list of close to 7,000 books and articles. The earliest account of the area can be found in Father Giacomo Fenicio's report of 1603 which described essentially the same kind of settlements of economic interdependence between the todas and badagas which was described in 1906 by Rivers. Hockings points out that "it is fortunate for bibliographical purposes that geography and history have combined with

ethnology and linguistics to make the Nilgiris district such a clearly delimited area". These distinctive characteristics, which also extend to the local flora and other aspects, have made his job as a biblio- grapher relatively easy, says Hockings.

This may be true, but this extensive bibliography which covers various sub- jects like cross-cultural studies, cultural anthropology, languages, literature and music, the fauna and flora, agriculture and horticulture, geography and general history is a most impressive collection. References have been meticulously collected from periodicals,journals, news- papers, books and historical works. Hockings has also written a brief preface which gives a background to the documen- tation on the Nilgiris.

All in all, a fascinating reference book. [l

THE TATA IRON AND STEEL COMPANY LIMITED

NOTICE

NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN pursuant to Section 154 of the Companies Act, 1956 that the Register of Members will remain closed from Friday, 30th June 2000 to Wednesday, 19th July 2000 (both days inclusive) for the purpose of determining the members of the Company as on the date of the Annual General Meeting proposed to be held on 20th July 2000.

The Transfer Books of the Company will also remain closed during the aforesaid period.

Dated, ttis 23rd day of May 2000.

THE TATA IRON AND STEEL COMPANY LIMITED

Sd/- (Mrs. S.S. Kudtarkar) COMPANY SECRETARY

Registered Office:

Bombay House 24, Iorni Mody Street, Fort, Mumbai 400 001

Economic and Political Weekly June 10, 2000 2019