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 “There’s
nothing really special about either the bulls or the farmers. Then how
is it that the farmers of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk
Producers’ Union in Anand, Gujarat are doing so well?”
The year was 1964. And these were the exact queries that went through
the mind of the then PM Lal Bahadur Shastri, also hailed as one of
India’s most diligent & enterprising prime ministers. He had been
invited by the aforementioned union (which we know today by the brand
name Amul) to set up a cattle feed plant. As he got a better
understanding of the cooperative model being followed, and being the
visionary that he was, Shastri realised its potential. He therefore
asked the GM of the cooperative, Dr. Verghese Kurien to set up a board
(of which Dr. Kurien would be Chairman), under the government, whose
mandate would be to set up ‘Anands’ all across India. And that is why,
when we talk about NDDB, it would be unfair to talk just about one
Anand; the township that NDDB helped create actually spans a much larger
area across India.
It was truly a daunting task, and required a lifetime of commitment,
with success being anything but certain. But these weren’t Dr. Kurien’s
concerns. He had only two conditions – one that the board will be set up
in Anand and the second that he would not take a single rupee from the
government; and that his salary would come from the farmers. It was his
way of ensuring that he remained committed to the farmer’s needs. That
was how National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) was born.
We often hear about deals that make money. Then there are the deals that
lose money. But this was one rare instance of a deal that made history –
a revolution that India proudly remembers as Operation Flood.
What was the model about? In Kurien’s words, “Combine the power of
farmers, production, processing and marketing and put it in the hands of
the farmers. They employ professionals to manage the business –
professionals who are responsive to their needs.”
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 We
witnessed a snapshot of this model ourselves at the Sandesar
Cooperative, which is a half an hour drive from the NDDB headquarters at
Anand. Rows of farmers wait outside, with cans of milk and deposit it
at the counter, where they are paid their fair price for the milk, which
is also tested for fat content, et al. All the milk taken is deposited
in a large cooling container till it goes for processing in a dairy, and
then further to the retail outlets. This model, replicated by many
times, has single-handedly enabled self sufficiency for India in terms
of milk production.
Dr. Amrita Patel, Chairman, NDDB, reminisces, “The growth of Amul was
based on a principle which is not often understood about agriculture,
the fact that it is market driven.” Anand would not have prospered
without the market of Bombay. There was a private dairy there that was
exploiting the farmers, so they decided to form their own cooperative to
supply milk to Bombay. Slowly they grew and made the entire set up more
professional and lucrative. For instance, they realised that the milk
production exceeded demand in winters and fell short in summers. So they
decided to set up a milk powder plant (they successfully converted
buffalo milk into powder, considered scientifically impossible at that
time).
The twists and turns in NDDB’s tale didn’t end there. Dr. Kurien
subsequently went to Delhi to ask for a Rs. 30,000 loan that was not
granted. He came back and asked the Kaira farmers to contribute
Rs.7,00,000 to the task of setting up the office (the one where we
interacted with Dr. Patel). The first funding came in the form of a
consulting fee to set up a dairy in the neighbouring district and
slowly, the business grew. The board has since engaged in all aspects of
the dairy business.
But the real cash crunch was with respect to setting up cooperatives
across India. State governments were reluctant to fund the projects, as
governments were still very uncomfortable with the idea of transferring
control to the farmers, since it meant losing control themselves. So
NDDB was stuck midway on its mandate in the late sixties.
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