Thread by @thebetterindia

#MilkmanofIndia #BirthAnniversary ⁠
On an early May morning in 1949, 27-year-old #VergheseKurien landed in Gujarat's Anand to work as superintendent of a run-down government creamery on a monthly salary of Rs 275.

It was in Anand that Kurien encountered the man who changed his life: Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel.⁠
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The latter had, in late 1946, organised a cooperative for marketing the milk of farmers in Kheda district.

However, the cooperative struggled without proper processing facilities to prevent the milk from curdling when it reached Mumbai. ⁠
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So Patel leased a part of the government creamery for the cooperative’s use.⁠
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But it turned out that the govt.creamery had completely worn-out machinery prone to frequent break-downs. Kurien, originally a mechanical engineer from Chennai’s Guindy College of Engineering, offered to fix these machines. ⁠
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During one such interaction, Kurien suggested investment in a plate pasteuriser as the only practical long-term solution, although it might cost some Rs 60,000.⁠
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To his surprise, Patel offered to raise the money — provided Kurien would help in the initial installation and running of the equipment.⁠

By then, Kurien had served his term and was set to leave Anand. But Patel’s persuasive powers and demonstrable commitment to a cause were enough to get him to remain in Anand, which became his karmabhoomi. ⁠
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The rest, as they say, is history.⁠

The Kheda cooperative, which was collecting 5,000-odd litres per day of milk from 430 farmers in end-1948, eventually became a pan-Gujarat organisation that now procures over 100 lakh litres daily from 30 lakh producers in 16,000 village-level societies.