Verghese Kurien quotes

Through Operation Flood, milk has been transformed from a commodity into a brand, from insufficient production to sufficient production, from rationing to plentiful availability; from loose unhygienic milk to milk that is pure and sure, from subjugation to as symbol of farmer's economic independence, to being the consumer's greatest insurance policy for good health. (Verghese Kurien)
With liberalisation and globalisation, it seems to me, India's national boundaries have ceased to exist. View quote
Verghese Kurien
I am sorry, I do not think it is a good thing, because if you have opened up this market under such terms, what it implies is that other countries can put their products into our markets. Are you aware that all those advanced countries subsidize their exports? Subsidies are as high as 65 per cent. Now if you have globalized, and the others are subsidising their exports, to what position have you exposed the Indian dairy industry? You have declared dairy products under OGL. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Gifts can be dangerous and make a nation dependent on foreign aid. They can scuttle dairy development here. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Amongst the management leaders in India, Kurien is not only an icon, he is a miracle. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Behind the the scenes of the fantastic success of Operation Flood is the nearly invisible skillful guding hand, vision and the brilliant mind and the unique management skill of Kurien. View quote
Verghese Kurien
We must build on the resources represented by our young professionals and by our nation's farmers. Without their involvement, we cannot succeed. With their involvement we can not fail. View quote
Verghese Kurien
I am supposed to exploit the consumer; and I will (exploit them), but not in a way that will create resentment. I have to milk the consumer. And milk them I will, but gently. View quote
Verghese Kurien
I had the benefit of background and infrastructure, success would have come rather easily and my independent contribution would not have been easily measurable. Here there was so much to be done - how could I not try? I had a trained butler. Mumbai was close. The Mathais were there but I would stay at the Taj for Rs 50 per night. I could afford it because in Anand I had no expenses at all. **When asked why with aristocratic background how reconciled to stay in a garage. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Operation Flood has three major achievements to its credit: making dairying India's largest self-sustainable rural employment program; bringing India self-sufficiency in milk production; trebling the nation's milk production within a span of two and half decades to make India the world's largest milk producer. View quote
Verghese Kurien
What you need is good management with farmer power. Good management gives this power the right direction and thrust. Nothing can stop the farmers then. Least of all the Multi national Companies|MNCs]]. (Verghese Kurien)
The idea of setting up the NDDB was to replicate the Anand pattern in very state, in order to promote to genuinely farmer-owned cooperatives that would procure, process and markethis prime produce. View quote
Verghese Kurien
I am glad that there are people like you in this country to do things that you. View quote
Verghese Kurien
While II was looking for a good enough excuse to run away from Anand; I was befriended by Tribhuvandas Patel, the young cooperative chairman and almost without realizing it I began to share his dream of building a strong organization that would free the famers from clutches of the middle man. In one of my weker moments I accepted |w:Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel|Tribhuvandas's]] suggestion that I work for the nascent Kaira Cooperative. I have never regretted that decision in my 33-year career as an employee of the farmers. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Amul Dairy is a manifestation of what can happen when farmers assert themselves, fight for a cause. View quote
Verghese Kurien
So, Mr Kreeber, what do you think of the natives now?" Kurien told a Nestle official who had come to do business with farmers of Anand. The company had earlier refused technology help to India as it could not let "natives handle a sensitive commodity like milk". View quote
Verghese Kurien
Milk is a highly perishable commodity, which is in short supply in summer and in excess supply in winter. The market can not contract and expand according to supply, therefore, you need balancing facilities. And once you have these balancing facilities, which you enable to carry forward the winter production and capture the market, procurement falls into your laps. This was the objective and methodology of Operation Flood. View quote
Verghese Kurien
I am a servant to the farmers. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Is the democratic form of government successful in all parts of India? But the solution to the problems of democracy is more democracy. There can be no democracy in India unless you erect a plurality of democratic structures to underpin democracy, like the village cooperative which is a people's institution. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Where you have the will you have the skill; study, search, practice application; healthy irreverence; look for the kink in the thing, be curious. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Our laws have our mindset negative, dishonest, unproductive, obstructionist and indisciplined. [Kurien says] we must liberate our resources. Economic liberalization is aimed at liberating our material resources. Economic liberalization is aimed at liberating our material resources. We need to liberate our mental resources, viz. the mindset, from our anti-national and anti-work ethic labour laws. (Verghese Kurien)
Milk is the only commodity which has to be collected twice a day, every day of the year. Thus, cooperatives are the only logical system for the dairy industry. About 85% of the industry in the US, Denmark and Australia is run by cooperatives. No other system will work for milk. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Dairying as Instrument of Change Kurien said. True development must be such that it brings the modernization process to the service of our majority, namely the rural poor. It must bring to these people not only the pittance which they need for their humble diet but also the means where by they can act together to obtain for themselves the benefits of modern science and organization and in that process the means whereby they can build for themselves, in every village, a society which is at peace with itself, concerned with its neighbours and able to see a bright for all its children. View quote
Verghese Kurien
Over the last 20 years India's milk production has tripled; it has increased from 20 million tonnes per annum to 60 million tonnes per annum.... Dairying has become the largest rural employment scheme in this country. And the government has had very little to do with it, even though we are a government institution. View quote
Verghese Kurien
[Mr Kurien] engineered the white revolution in India and made India the largest milk producer of the world. He is recognised as the man behind the success of the Amul brand. View quote
Verghese Kurien