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2.THE BEGINNING: Story of Amul1
• The white revolution was spearheaded by Tribhuvandas Patel under the guidance of Sardar Patel and Dr.Verghese Kurien. As a result, Kaira District Milk Union Limited was born in 1946. Tribhuvan das became the founding chairman of the organization which he led till his last day of his life.
• He hired Dr. Kurien three years after the white revolution. He convinced Dr.Kurien to stay and help with the mission rest was history in the dairying industry.
• Amul spurred India’s White Revolution, which made the country the world’s largest producer of milk and milk products. In the process Amul became the largest food brand in India and has ventured into markets overseas.
Amul products are now available in more than 60 countries in the world. The seeds of this unusual saga were sown more than 65 years back in Anand, a small town in the state of Gujarat in Western India.
The exploitative trade practices followed by the local trade cartel kicked off the cooperative movement. Angered by unfair and manipulative practices followed by the trade, the farmers of the district approached the great Indian patriot Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel for a solution.
He advised them to get rid of middlemen and to form their own co-operative, which would have procurement, processing and marketing under their control. In 1946, the farmers of this area went on a milk strike refusing to be cowed down by the cartel. Under the inspiration of Sardar Patel, and the guidance of leaders like Morarji Desai and Tribhuvandas Patel, they formed their own cooperative in 1946.
