India's Milkman is No More
Legal Corner Icon — the image was hosted by the publisher and was not captured.MORE than seven years ago, I just called up Verghese Kurien, the man who flooded India with milk, and asked for an article for TIOL. He readily obliged and today we are again carrying that article in our Guest Column - an inspiring article indeed.
After the 2006 Budget, again, I was tempted to call up the great man for his comments, but I thought it would be too cruel to disturb him. So, I sent a mail and called up his secretary. Again, promptly came the article. Just a day after the budget, he had thoroughly read the budget and wrote for us, "I compliment the Finance Minister for exempting condensed milk and ice-cream from excise duty. This will indirectly help the vast mass of small milk producers across the country. In this connection, I would like to suggest that the Finance Minister may consider exempting the income of all cooperatives from tax who are engaged in multi-tier functions of procurement, processing and marketing of agricultural and dairy products. Dairy cooperatives that operate on Anand pattern, envisage provision of support services from the National Federation to the State Federations, from the State Federations to the District Unions and from the District Unions to the village cooperative societies. As such, these cooperatives should appropriately be exempted from the levy of the Service Tax."
Getting two articles for TIOL from Kurien is something that I will unabashedly boast about with absolute immodesty. I am proud that Kurien wrote for us!
They called him mad, but today millions of people madly love him for providing them food.
Alexy Kosygin, the Russian Prime Minister visited Anand in the seventies and told him, "Anyone who has been here, anyone who has seen what you have done, anyone who has gone above all to the villages looked into the eyes of your people, knows what you are doing. You are bringing about a revolution of great significance. Good. But you took 30 years to do it in milk, a whole lifetime. And you say you are going to do it in vegetable oil, another 30 years. Then you must do it in fruit and vegetables, another 30 years. May you be given a long life! Such significant and social and economic changes should not be brought about out in this leisurely fashion. It must be done in all direction all at once. But if you do, you will be shot down like a dog and you will have no defence. No, you should bring all these changes in all directions, all at once by a revolution. Come to my country. Be my guest. I will explain to you how this is done. I will teach you how this is done."
So, off he went to Russia and observed, "The cows are all owned collectively which means no one owns them, which also means no one takes care of them. The State takes care of them. The dairies are owned by the State. People are all paid by the State. They are not answerable to anyone. The whole thing was a mess. So, I didn't like what I saw in those days in the USSR. So, we didn't follow that path. I still feel that we should do these things gradually, slowly. If it takes time, let it take time. But it will be more permanent, if it is done slowly."
It was a sheer accident of life that took Kurien to Anand, but that changed life - his and the poor farmers'.
Also, please see Today's Editorial