Who is known as the 'Milkman of India'?

Dr. Verghese Kurien (1921-2012) is known as the "Milkman of India" and the "Father of the White Revolution".

About Verghese Kurien:

• He was born on 26 November 1921 in Kozhikode (Calicut), Kerala.
• He studied engineering in Chennai and later studied metallurgy and nuclear physics at Michigan State University, USA, on a government scholarship.

In 1949, he was sent by the government to work at a dairy in Anand, Gujarat. He stayed on and joined the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union, which had been founded in 1946 by Tribhuvandas Patel under the guidance of Sardar Patel.

The union's brand became famous as "Amul" ("Anand Milk Union Limited").

With the engineer H. M. Dalaya, Kurien helped develop the technology to make milk powder from buffalo milk, which had been thought impossible.

The "Anand model" of dairy co-operatives was based on farmers owning and controlling their co-operatives at the village, district and state levels.

In 1965, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri asked him to create the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) to spread the Anand model across India. Kurien was its first Chairman.

In 1970, the NDDB launched "Operation Flood", the world's largest dairy development programme. It turned India from a milk-deficient country into the world's largest milk producer (since 1998).

He also founded the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), which markets Amul products, and the Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA).

The film "Manthan" (1976), directed by Shyam Benegal, was based on the White Revolution and was funded by about 500,000 farmers who each contributed two rupees.

Honours:

• Ramon Magsaysay Award (1963).
• World Food Prize (1989).
• Padma Vibhushan (1999).
• His birthday, 26 November, is celebrated as "National Milk Day" in India.
• His autobiography is "I Too Had a Dream".

Why not the other options?

• ✗S. Swaminathan is the "Father of the Green Revolution in India".
• ✗Tribhuvandas Patel was the founder of the Kaira union.
• ✗Norman Borlaug is the "Father of the Green Revolution" worldwide.