June 1st is chosen by the Food and Agriculture Organization as the World Milk Day. This day celebrates the important contributions of the dairy sector to the growth of society and trade.
In India, when we talk about milk, we cannot forget the role Anand Milk Union Limited (AMUL) , Sardhar Valabhai Patel, Tribhuvandas Patel and Dr. Verghese Kurien had in the White Revolution and Operation Flood.
Anand, is actually a district in Gujarat and it has myriad milk manufacturers, most of them are farmers. In the pre-independent era (i.e) in 1940s, the milk that was produced by the farmers was sold to middlemen who paid lesser price and bought huge quantity of milk and made bigger profits.
The poor farmers and milk producers sought the wisdom of Sardar Vallabhai Patel and he instructed them to remove middlemen and asked them to form their own co-operative society which would bring the collection, processing and marketing under the control of the real manufacturers – the humble farmers.
The farmers formed their own co-operative in 1946 and it was called Kaira District Milk-Producers Union and it later became Amul. The Union saw that the milk producers sell it to the village dairy co-operative society which sold it to the District Milk Co-Operative society and which in turn sold it to the state dairy co-operative society and they sold it to the Consumers.
You may ask what made the humble villagers have a sustainable economy. The members of the village dairy cooperative are milk producers. These men elected men who would administer the district dairy co-operative and the district dairy cooperative elected the state dairy co-operative union members who will directly supply it to the public.
This model of supply was found to be very effective and it was adopted by Tamil Nadu Co-operative Milk Producers’ Federation (TCMPF). It was formed in February’1981 as an apex body of three tire cooperatives set up in Tamil Nadu and the District level milk producer unions were formed in the year 1982.
Amul has been India’s greatest game-changer in the dairy industry and its role in uplifting the humble milk producers and farmers’ life is unforgettable.