Dr. Verghese Kurien
The milk man of India
Here is the time line of Dr. Kurien's life
- 26th Nov 1921 He was born as the son of a civil surgeon in Cochin, Kerala. Even though he was born into a Christian family, he became an atheist later in life.
- 1940 He loved to learn and furthered his education by joining the Tata Steel Technical Institute, Jamshedpur before moving to the U.S to study at the Michigan State University on a Government Scholarship. He earned his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering in 1948
- 1949 On his return from the U.S in 1949, the Government of India deputed him to a creamery at Anand, in Gujarat where he was He attended Loyola College and graduated in Physics in 1940 before joining the College of Engineering in Guindy from where he obtained his Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering.
- 1948 supposed to serve five years as an officer of the Dairy division. He personally had no interest in dairy, but had to perform this job in return for the government scholarship.
- 1965 Kurien’s work in Amul was so groundbreaking that the then Prime Minister, Lal Bahadur Shastri created the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965 to expand the cooperative program to all corners of the country. Kurien was named Chairman of the organization.
- 1979 In 1979, he helped to found the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA) which was based on the philosophy that effective rural development is possible only through professional management.
- 9th Sep 2012 He lived a long and productive life and died in 2012 at the age of 90 after a brief illness.
Dr Kurien was an outstanding and innovative manager and an exceptional human being. His contribution to the welfare of the farmer and agricultural production and development of the country is immeasurable. Dr Kurien was an icon of India's cooperative movement and the dairy industry.