Verghese Kurien quits as chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation

Verghese Kurien is known as the father of White Revolution in India. However, he has not been successful in managing the internal politics in the industry as he has finally given in and resigned from his position as the member and chairman of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF).

He has been working as the chairman of the group since the inception in 1973 of the GCMMF, which markets its products under the brand name Amul. Interestingly, just three months ago he was unanimously re-elected for three years by the same board of directors.

The same board of directors has somehow now turned against him. Kurien said that he was “anguished and pained” at the move to remove him and suspected that it could be an “orchestrated act involving people at a very high level”.

However, he plans to continue as the head of another institution he built up, Institute of Rural Management, Anand (IRMA). For his future plans, he said that he would be willing to provide advice to any farmers’ cooperative. He is also considering an offer from the neighboring Pakistan to setup a similar cooperative on the lines of Amul in the country.

He also has several similar offers from African nations. It is sad to see that a person as great as him is being hounded by the internal systems prevailing in the nation.