93rd birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien observed as National Milk Day in Gujarat
National Milk Day was observed in Gujarat to mark 93rd birth anniversary of Dr.Verghese Kurien. It was the first of its kind initiative organized by all dairy majors to celebrate November 26 as National Milk Day in the memory Dr Verghese Kurien.
The idea of celebrating Indian Milk Day was first mooted by Indian Dairy Association (IDA).
Events organized on National Milk Day
- National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), IDA along with around 22 state level milk federation’s including Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) that markets brand Amul took part in this initiative.
- 200 lakh milk pouches of Amul will carry the National Milk Day’s logo featuring Dr Kurien for a week across the country.
- District level milk unions who are part of Milk federation had organized district level celebrations which were attended by around 10,000 milk producers.
- Gujarat chief minister Anandiben Patel addressed mega gathering of farmers in a programme organized by Banas Dairy in Palanpur district.
- In Anand district, all institutes founded by Mr Kurien i.e. Amul, Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), Anandalaya and NDDB participated to celebrate this day.
About Dr.Verghese Kurien
Verghese Kurien was renowned social entrepreneur. He was best known as the “Father of the White Revolution”.
Operation Flood: His ‘billion-litre idea’-Operation Flood which was the world’s largest agricultural development programme, helped to transform India from a milk-deficit country into the world’s largest milk producer.
Milk Co-operatives Movement: He had founded around 30 institutions of excellence (like AMUL, GCMMF, IRMA, NDDB) which are owned, managed by farmers and run by professionals. As the founding chairman of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF), Kurien was responsible for the creation and success of the Amul brand of dairy products.
Milk powder: Under his chairmanship, Amul achieved key invention of milk powder processed from buffalo milk.
Awards conferred to Verghese Kurien for his contribution are
- 1963- Ramon Magsaysay Award.
- 1989- World Food Prize by World Food Prize, USA.
- 1965- Padma Shri.
- 1966- Padma Bhushan.
- 1999- Padma Vibhushan.
World Milk Day: Globally, 1st June is annually celebrated as World Milk Day. In 2001, this day was designated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN-FAO).
It aims to publicize activities related to milk and milk industries and raise public awareness about the importance of milk and milk products for everyone throughout life.
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Month: Current Affairs - November, 2014