Amul: Hero of India
Farmers destroying their crops is now a very familiar sight. During every Eid-ul-Adha, grassroots leather traders destroy their purchased leather with their own hands. The main reason for this is not getting fair prices and being held hostage by market syndicates. As the market is held hostage by the syndicates, when the traders go to sell the hides, they are forced to sell the hides at low prices. And then, in anger, they destroy that skin themselves. And such syndicates are seen not only in the leather market but in almost all crop markets. The most surprising thing is that this is not a new phenomenon. Instead, it has been happening in the Indian subcontinent for a long time.
Even in 1945, the dairy farmers of Gujarat, India, faced such a problem that whenever they went to sell their milk, the ‘dairy contractor’ would force them to sell their milk at an arbitrary price. But now, although farmers and grassroots traders are helpless and destroying crops, the dairy farmers of Gujarat did not do the same. Instead, they decided to fight against it by bringing everyone together. They established an organization with the motto, “Of the dairy farmer, For the dairy farmer, By the dairy farmer” — a company with an annual revenue of 61 thousand crore rupees in 2022 [1] . We are talking about the Indian company ‘Amul Dairy’!
Polson
In the 1940s, the name Amul Dairy didn’t even exist. Instead, only one name was known for butter: ‘ Polson’ It was so popular that ‘Polson’ was used as a synonym for butter. Polson Butter was founded by Peshtonji Eduzi when he was only 13 years old. In 1888 he started a small coffee shop, and 12 years later, in 1900, he founded the Polson Company. Named after his nickname (Polly), it was later renamed ‘Polson’ to give the company a bit of a British feel. The company initially started selling coffee, which also became very popular. Still, when Pashtonji learned that butter was in great demand among the British, he established a butter dairy in Gujarat’s Kaira district. During World War I in 1918, Polson Butter made a considerable profit by selling butter to British soldiers.
But at the same time, the condition of Indian farmers became very pathetic. Along with famine and plague, the increased income tax by the British Raj continued to bite the peasants. Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel started a 3-month-long protest against the British. As a result of that protest, the British government waived their two-year income tax and returned the confiscated land to the farmers [2] .
However, even during this period, the Polson made hefty profits, and by 1930, they could establish a fully automated dairy factory. In addition, during the Second World War, they again had the opportunity to supply butter to the British troops, from which they earned a profit of 3 million pounds. At this stage, if anyone is wondering why I am giving details about Polson, it is better to inform them that in 1945, the Government of Bombay State (the combined state of Gujarat and Maharashtra) took up an initiative called the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme. The contractor had to transport the milk from Kaira to Bombay under this scheme. The Bombay milk scheme eventually gave the contract to Polson. And with that, Polson was now making a profit through transportation, but this profit was limited to them only. Even then, those dairy farmers had to sell their milk to them at a fixed price, resulting in the ire of Gujarat’s dairy farmers.
And just at this time, as per the instructions of a great social worker ‘Tribhuvan Das Patel’ he and the dairy farmers of Gujarat approached ‘Sardar Patel’ to consult on this matter. When they all told him about their problems, Sardar Patel had only one thing to say when he advised them to form a farmer’s ‘cooperative’. The cooperative through which the farmers can sell their milk, even this cooperative, will set up a ‘pasteurization plant.’ However, a question arises: What if the British government does not agree to buy milk from this cooperative? As a solution to that, Sardar Patel advises that if this happens, they should call for a ‘milk strike.’ Although the farmers are likely to suffer losses in this strike, The British government eventually has to agree with the farmers if they can successfully run it. Sardar Patel instructed his trustee Moraji Desai to visit the Kaira district, help the farmers set up this cooperative, and, if necessary, organize a ‘milk strike.’ And then, according to the instructions of Sardar Patel, their cooperative called ‘Kaira District Co-operative Mil Producer’s Union LTD’ was started. This cooperative demanded before the British government that they should buy milk from this cooperative. As they thought happened, The British government refused to do any business with them. At this stage, everyone did what Sardar Patel said; they called for a ‘milk strike’ and stopped the production of all kinds of milk. And as a result, the whole project of the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme’ collapsed, and the Bombay Milk Commissioner had to go to Kaira and negotiate with them after 15 days.
This was the first victory for the dairy farmers, with philanthropist Tribhuvan Das Patel also ensuring that all, irrespective of caste and creed, could participate in the cooperative. He also ensures that all cooperative members get voting rights regardless of their financial or social status. These cooperatives have a three-tier pyramid-like structure, modeled on Mahatma Gandhi’s philosophy of ‘self-reliant rural finance’ in socialism. This three-tiered structure will have ‘Village Dairy Cooperative Society’ as the bottom tier, ‘Member Union’ as the second tier, and ‘State Federation’ as the top tier [4] .
If we look into the current situation, there are 18,600 cooperative societies at the ‘Village Dairy Cooperative Societies’ level alone, with more than 36 lakh farmers as members. Moreover, there are 18 member unions and a state federation. [3] But if we look back, there were only two village cooperatives when the Amul movement started in 1946.
On August 15, 1947, the dairy farmers of Kaira also gained economic independence. But not only the farmers but also the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme’ was benefiting a lot, as this cooperative was supplying milk directly to them, which in turn was able to provide milk to the Bombay Milk Scheme at a lower price than Polson [5] . In June 1948, they started their own milk pasteurization as per the plan. By the end of 1948, 432 farmers joined the cooperative, and the milk supply increased to 5000 liters per day.
Father of White Revolution
Dr. Vargese Kurien graduated in Physics in 1943 and joined the Tata Steel Technical Institute. He applied for a government scholarship, and the interview board asked him to define pasteurization. To which Dr.Kurien replied, “It may have something to do with the heating of the milk,” and was nominated for a scholarship in ‘Dairy Engineering’ based on this answer; It is worth mentioning that this was only one scholarship then. With the help of this scholarship, he received training from the ‘Imperial Institute of Animal Husbandry ‘ and later went to the United States to study at Michigan State University. Even though the government gave him the scholarship to study “Dairy Engineering,” he says he “cheated” a little and studied Nuclear Physics instead. Since the government gave him the scholarship, he had a deal with the government. This is why When he returned to India in May 1989, he was assigned a position as an officer in the dairy division of a butter factory in Anand city.
Mr. Kurien was working there under compulsion and waiting for his bond to expire. But coincidentally, the building where his office was, was also the office of ‘The Kaira Cooperative Union.’ There he met Tribhuvan Das, and it became an excellent friendship. At one point, he advises Tribhuvan Das to buy a new plant, which in turn buys a new plant from ‘Kaira Co-operative’ Larsen & Toubro. However, Dr. Kurien’s bond expired when the plant was about to arrive. But like any Bollywood movie, he stayed there even after that bond ended. In 1950, he was made this cooperative’s ‘Executive Head.’ Although this action may seem very selfless and patriotic, he himself wrote in his book ‘I Too Had a Dream’ that he did not have any great reason behind such action but rather enjoyed doing this work. And he then realizes that, in some cases, his self-satisfaction has to be given more priority than money.
By 1953, milk production was so high that the ‘Bombay Milk Scheme’ could not absorb this milk. Then everyone concludes surplus milk will be used to produce dairy products. At this stage, another great man appeared named ‘Harichand Megha Dalaya,’ a friend of Dr. Kurien. Who developed the world’s first buffalo milk ‘milk spray dryer’ (machine for making powdered milk). On Sardar Patel’s birthday; October 31, 1955, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, accompanied by Indira Gandhi, inaugurated Asia’s largest powdered milk facility with a capacity to process one lakh liters of milk per day.
Image Courtesy: Amul Dairy
Naming AMUL
When it was decided that the cooperative would produce different dairy products with surplus milk, they needed a name to market the product. In 1957 a lab chemist suggested the name ‘AMUL.’ Amul is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘Amulya,’ the meaning of which is ‘priceless’; moreover, if the first letters of ‘Anand Milk Union Limited’ are arranged left to right, it becomes ‘AMUL.’ So finally, the name of dairy products was decided as ‘Amul.’
Polson Butter vs Amul Butter
Amul started producing butter, but Amul’s butter could not compete with Polson’s butter. Because the butter made by Amul was white and very ordinary, Polson’s butter was yellowish, and since they used resident milk; So, Polson’s butter had a slightly sour taste. Also, they added salt to Polson’s butter for longer shelf life. Amul made their butter with buffalo milk instead of cow’s milk, whereas Polson used cow’s milk. For these reasons, the popularity of Polson’s butter remains intact.
Forced to counter Polson, they also started producing butter similarly. They used yellow food colouring and added salt to the butter. However, Dr. Kurien is very decisive and is not happy at first. Later, he also had to accept that there was no other option but to do these things to survive in the market and satisfy the consumers. After adopting these techniques, the popularity of Amul butter gradually increased.
Soon after, another very successful marketing strategy started: the famous ‘Amul Butter Girl. This Amul girl was also included in the Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘World’s Longest Running Outdoor Advertisement Campaign’ [10] . This Amul girl was created in 1966 by ‘Sylvester da Chuna,’ and was originally launched as a counter-marketing strategy to Polson’s ‘Butter Girl’ [11] .
In 1973, the ‘Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation’ was formed, bringing together all the unions, including other district towns. And Kaira Union revealed that they are willing to include their brand name, ‘Amul,’ with this federation. Soon after this, Pandit Nehru, followed by Lal Bahadur Sastri, made several important decisions to protect the milk cooperatives from the big companies [12] .
Gradually the popularity of the Polson Company began to decline. At one point, they had to withdraw from the dairy industry when the government announced that the dairy sector would be reserved for cooperatives only. Although the Polson Company still survives, it now manufactures tanning and eco-friendly leather chemicals.
In 1965, the National Milk Development Board was formed, and in 1970, they launched a project called ‘Operation Flood.’ After this project started, India produced more milk than the demand, where there was a shortage of milk earlier. In 1998, India overtook the United States to become the world’s largest milk producer [13] .
Amul’s success story is not a company’s success story but the success story of India as a whole. Because this one cooperative can make a country like India the largest milk-producing country, this one cooperative has been able to free all the dairy farmers of India from poverty and syndicates of big companies. Leaders of this cooperative have fought to keep it out of the wrong hands. Amul isn’t listed on the stock exchange, hence 90% of it is still held by dairy farmers.
[All references and sources has been hyperlinked or marked with number at relevant point]
