Even after these many years have passed, Amul remains one of the most successful organizations ever created and run on the Indian soil.
Back in
1945, in the Kaira district of Gujarat, the milk marketing system was
controlled by contractors and intermediaries, mostly by the Polsons earning
huge profits. Milk is a perishable product that constrained farmers to sell at whatever
they were being offered. Sometimes, they had to sell cream and ghee at a
throwaway price.
The Bombay
(Now Mumbai) government started the Bombay Milk Scheme in 1945. Milk had to be
transported 427 km, from Anand to Bombay. This was possible only if milk
pasteurization takes place in Anand. After the pilot run, the Government of
Bombay agreed with Polson's to supply milk from Anand to Bombay. The system was
highly beneficial to all concerned – except the farmers.
The
discontent of the farmers grew. They went to Sardar Patel. He advised that they
should market their milk through a cooperative society having its own pasteurization
plant and advised to seek permission to set up such a cooperative. He suggested
that if the consent is not given, a strike should be carried out. He also pointed
out the risk of some losses to the farmers as they would not be able to sell the
milk for a short time. If the farmers were prepared to put up with the loss,
Sardar Patel was ready to lead them. The farmers' deputation agreed to Sardar
Patel's proposal.
The farmers did put the demand in front of the Government, and the later turned it down.
The farmers called a 'milk strike' which lasted for 15 days. Not a drop of milk reached Bombay from Anand, and the Bombay Milk Scheme almost collapsed, and farmers' demands were accepted.The Government must buy milk from the Union, and if not done, the farmers would throw the milk rather sell to any milk contractor in Kaira District.
This revolution marked the beginning of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers' Union Limited, Anand.
They introduced the brand "Amul" (then short for Anand Milk Union Ltd) and is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Amulya,' which means 'priceless' or precious.'
It was formally registered with the Government
on 14th December 1946. The objective was to provide marketing and
supply chain facilities for the milk producers of the area. The milk pasteurization
began in June 1948.
It was
found that in winter, the buffaloes yielded an average of 2.5 times their
summer yield. The Bombay Milk Scheme could not utilize the extra milk collected
by the Union. Since supply was ver high than demand, farmers were again forced
to sell a large surplus at a low rate to intermediaries. Setting up a plant to
process the extra milk into products like milk powder and butter seemed a
feasible solution. The foundation stone of this plant was laid by the then
President of India the late Dr. Rajendra Prasad on 15th November,
1954. The project was completed by 31st October 1955, which was
declared open by the then Prime Minister of India, late Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
Amul's builder, in almost every way, was the late Dr. Verghese Kurien.
Dr. Kurien arrived in Anand in 1949 as a government employee to manage a dairy. On 31st October 1964, late Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri, the then Prime Minister of India, visited Anand. He expressed his desire to Mr. Kurien for replicating the Amul model throughout the country, as this will bring a significant change in the socio-economic conditions of the people.
Mr. Kurien went from helping farmers repair their machinery to revolutionizing the Indian dairy industry by scripting "Operation Flood." The operation marked him as the "Milkman of India,"
This cooperative movement turned India from a net importer of milk
into one of the world's two largest producers today. The Operation Flood
program, even today, stands to be the most extensive dairy development program
ever drawn in the world.
The vision of Dr. Kurien was a simple one of offering thousands of small dairy farmers
centralized marketing and quality control facilities, which were the missing
links in the dairy industry at the time. Later, in 1973 the Gujarat Cooperative
Milk Marketing Federation was established to market milk and milk products under
a single umbrella manufactured by six district cooperative unions of Gujarat.
Amul meant different things to different people:
- To a Milk Producer -> A life-enriching experience
- To a Consumer -> Assurance of having wholesome milk
- To a Mother -> A reliable source of nourishment for her child
- To the country -> Rural Development and Self Reliance
Since
2010, Amul's parent has been busy procuring milk from outside Gujarat. Currently,
the GCMMF and Amul are jointly owned by more than 3.6 million milk producers
who provide the dairy that is used to make ghee, butter, paneer, ice cream, and
other Amul products.
Today,
around 16 million milk producers pour their milk in 1.85 lakhs plus cooperative
dairy societies across the country. The milk is processed in 222 District
Co-operative Milk Unions and marketed by 28 State Marketing Federations, ensuring
a better life for millions.
According to their financial statements for the fiscal year of 2019-20, Amul's turnover reached the highly coveted Rs. 38,550-crore mark.
For many years, Amul, along with GCMMF, has triumphed abundant awards. GCMMF introduced itself on the Global Dairy Trade (GDT) platform, where only the six top dairy players across the world sell their products, which earned Amul a world-class recognition. Some of these comprise the:
- Rajiv Gandhi National Quality Award in 1999
- The Golden Trophy for Outstanding Export Performance for 2009-10
- Best Marketing Campaign in 2014
- World Dairy Innovation Award
Amul changed the landscape of the Indian Dairy industry. We as engineers and management graduates should always look for opportunities in the social domain. We should always look to strengthen the lower realm of society by leveraging our passion and knowledge.
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