Dr V Kurien centenary fete to commence under Milma’s aegis on Nov. 26

Our Correspondent

The year-long celebrations to mark the birth centenary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, father of India’s White Revolution, will commence in Kozhikode on November 26, under the banner of Kerala Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (KCMMF), Milma.

Recalling Dr. Kurien’s huge contributions to Indian dairy sector on the occasion, over one lakh farmers affiliated to more than 3500 milk co-operative societies of Milma will write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking conferment of the nation’s highest honour “Bharat Ratna” on the country’s Milk Man.

Minister for Animal Husbandry and Dairy development K Raju will inaugurate the centenary celebrations at the State-level function at the headquarters of Malabar Regional Co-operative Milk Producers Union at Kunnamangalam near Kozhikode at 11am on November 26. Milma Chairman P.A. Balan Master will preside over the function.

Dr. Kurien’s daughter Nirmala Kurien will deliver the commemoration lecture and unveil a statue of her father. A special cover brought out by the Indian Dairy Association to mark the occasion will be released by Dr.M.R. Raveendranath, Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University.

Milma has planned a slew of programmes and schemes through the year to consolidate the achievements and take forward Kerala’s dairy sector in the State, Balan Master said at a press conference here today.

Paying homage to his memory, Dr Kurien’s portrait will be unveiled and lamps lit in all milk co-operative societies across the state in the evening of November 26.

Seeking to give a fillip to scientific research and studies related to animal husbandry, Milma has announced a scholarship scheme in memory of Dr Kurien for students of the Kerala University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences with an endowment of Rs.5 lakh.

Milma and its regional unions have implemented a string of schemes to provide relief to dairy farmers hit hard by the outbreak of COVID-19. These includes a subsidy of Rs 40 lakh per bag of cattle feed, at a cost of Rs 3.36 crore.

While milk procurement went up, the sale dipped during the spread of the pandemic. The impact on farmers from the procurement-demand gap, however, was offset by the Malabar regional union by routing the surplus milk to other states for producing milk powder.

Currently, the State has 3500 milk societies with a total membership of one million farmers, of whom 2.5 lakh are women. An average 14.5 lakh litres of milk is procured through them, and the farmers are getting the price without fail.

Dr. Kurien, who helmed one of world’s largest co-operative dairy enterprises Amul for long years and made remarkable contributions to propel the country as a major global producer of milk and dairy products, was born in Kozhikode on November 26, 1921. He also spearheaded trail-blazing programmes like Operation Flood that revolutionised the animal husbandry sector for the benefit of millions of farmers across the country and headed the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB).