Verghese Kurien (born November 26, 1921 at Kozhikode, Kerala) is called the father of the

White Revolution in India. He is also known as the Milkman of India.

He was the chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd.(GCMMF).
GCMMF is an apex cooperative organization that manages the Amul food brand. He is
recognised as the man behind the success of the Amul brand. Amul had a revenue of $1b USD in
2006-07. In addition to Kurien, people like Shri Dalaya, VH Shah, Madhukar Shah, Dr.AR Seth,
Dr.Shabnis and Shri Tribhuvandas Patel have also played a significant role in the progress and
development of Amul.
He is credited with being the architect of Operation Flood -- the largest dairy development
program in the world. Kurien helped modernise Anand model of cooperative dairy development
and thus engineered the White Revolution in India, and made India the largest milk producer in
the world. Milk co-operatives were already extant when Kurien came to Anand and were
managed by Tribhuvandas Patel. His uncle, John Mathai, was an economist who served as India's
first Railway Minister and subsequently as India's Finance Minister.
Education
Kurien graduated in Physics from Loyola College, Madras in 1940 and then did B.E. (Mech)
from the University of Madras. After completing his degree, he joined the Tata Steel Technical
Institute, Jamshedpur from where he graduated in 1946. He then went to USA on a government
scholarship to earn his Master of Science in Mechanical Engineering (with distinction) from
Michigan State University.
Career
When he came back to India, he was posted as a dairy engineer at the government creamery,
Anand, in May 1949. Around the same time, the infant cooperative dairy, Kaira District Co-
operative Milk Producers' Union (KDCMPUL), now famous as Amul -- was fighting a battle
with the Polson Dairy, which was privately owned. Young Kurien, fed up with being at the
government creamery, which held no challenge, volunteered to help Shri Tribhuvandas Patel, the
Chairman of KDCMPUL, to set up a processing plant. This marked the birth of AMUL.
Personal Life
Dr. Kurien belonged to Syrian Christian community of India. He married his neighbor's daughter
Molly. Molly was a gracious host and Dr Kurien's house used to serve as a guest house in Anand
for the visiting dignitaries. He has one daughter and a grandson, Siddhartha.
The White Revolution
Kurien has since then built this organization into one of the largest and most successful
institutions in India. The Amul pattern of cooperatives had been so successful, in 1965, then
Prime Minister of India, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, created the National Dairy Development
Board (NDDB) (NDDB) to replicate the program on a nationwide basis citing Kurien's
"extraordinary and dynamic leadership" upon naming him chairman.
Kurien also set up GCMMF (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation) in 1973 to sell the
products produced by the dairies. Today GCMMF sells AMUL brand products not only in India
but also overseas. He quit the post of GCMMF Chairman in 2006 following disagreements with
GCMMF management.[1]
Kurien, plays a key role in many other organizations, ranging from chairing the Viksit Bharat
Foundation, a body set up by the President of India to chairman of the Institute of Rural
Management, Anand's Board of Governors in India. Dr. Kurien was mentioned by the Ashoka
foundation (www.ashoka.ca) as one of the eminent present Day Social Entrepreneurs.
Kurien's life story is chronicled in his memoirs 'I too had a dream'.[2]
Dr. Kurien and his team were pioneers in inventing the process of making milk powder and
condensed milk from buffalo's milk instead of cow's milk. This was the reason Amul became so
successful and competed well against Nestle who only used cow milk to make powder and
condensed milk. In India buffalo milk was the main raw material unlike Europe where cow milk
is abundant.
India's first Prime Minister Jawahar Lal Nehru visited Anand to inaugrate AMUL "factory" and
he embraced Dr. Kurien for his groundbreaking work.
Awards
For his contribution to the dairy industry, Kurien has received top awards not only in India but
also overseas.
• 1963 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership [3].
• 1965 Padma Shri
• 1966 Padma Bhushan (from president Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan)
• 1986 Krishi Ratna Award (by the President of India)
• 1986 Wateler Peace Prize Award (of Carnegie Foundation )
• 1989 World Food Prize Laureate
• 1993 International Person of the Year (by the World Dairy Expo, Madison, Wisconsin,
USA)
• 1999 Padma Vibhushan
• [not known] [godfrey philips bravery award]
• 2007,Karmaveer Puraskaar Noble Laureates by iCONGO- Confederation of NGOs
Dr. Verghese Kurien is called the "father of the white revolution" in India. He is credited with
architecting Operation Flood -- the largest dairy development program in the world.
Verghese Kurien, set up the Anand model of cooperative dairy development, engineered the
White Revolution in India, and made India the largest milk producer in the world.
Born on 26th November 1921, Dr.Kurien graduated with Physics from Loyola College,
Madras in 1940 and then did B.E.(Mech) from the Madras University. After passing out of
the University, he joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute, Jamshedpur from where he
graduated in 1946.
He then went to USA on a government scholarship to do his Master of Science in Mechanical
Engineering from Michigan State University. When he came back to India, he was posted as
a Dairy Engineer at the government creamery, Anand, in May 1949.
 Around the same time, the infant cooperative dairy, Kaira District Cooperative Milk
Producers' Union Limited (KDCMPUL), -- now famous as AMUL -- was fighting a battle with
the Polson Dairy which was privately owned. Young Kurien, fed up with being at the
government creamery which held no challenge, volunteered to help Shri Tribhuvandas Patel,
the Chairman of KDCMPUL, to set up a processing plant. This marked the birth of AMUL and
the rest is history.
Dr. Kurien has since then built this organization into one of the largest and most successful
institutions in India. The Amul pattern of cooperatives had been so successful that Dr.
Kurien setup NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) to replicate it across India.
Dr. Kurien has since then built this organization into one of the largest and most successful
institutions in India. The Amul pattern of cooperatives had been so successful that Dr.
Kurien setup NDDB (National Dairy Development Board) to replicate it across India. Did
You Know Dr. Kurien wanted to leave Amul in 1949 but Shri Tribhuvandas Patel influenced
him to stay back. He also set up GCMMF (Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation)
in 1973 to sell the products produced by the dairies. Today GCMMF sells AMUL brand
products not only in India but also overseas. For his contribution to the dairy industry Dr.
Kurien has received top awards not only in India but also overseas.
Padmashri (1965)
Padmabhushan (1966)
Krishi Ratna Award (1986) by the President of India.
Ramon Magsaysay Award for Community Leadership (1963)
Wateler Peace Prize Award of Carnegie Foundation (1986)
World Food Prize Award (1989)
International Person of the Year(1993) by the World Dairy Expo,
Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Padma Vibhushan (1999)