Verghese Kurien: An Ode to Father of the White Revolution, India

Verghese Kurien (1921-2012) is considered the Father of the White Revolution in India. He is also known as the ‘Milkman of India’. He was responsible for moving India from a milk powder importing country to becoming self-sufficient in milk and milk products. He is credited with creating a series of institutions in Anand, a small town in the Western state of Gujarat, the AMUL Brand of milk products and its cooperative milk federation (GCMMF), the National Dairy Development Board to name a few. The Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) was one of the last institutions he built.

I joined IRMA in 2009 as the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Chair Professor in Economics and became the Director of IRMA in 2011 for a full term till 2016. I met Dr. Verghese Kurien a couple of times during…