Tributes to a visionary

Vice-President

His contribution to the welfare of the farmer and agricultural production and development of the country is immeasurable. Kurien was an icon of India’s cooperative movement and the dairy industry…His greatest contribution was to give a position of pre-eminence to the farmer and his or her interests rather than those of middlemen.

manmohan singh

Prime Minister

His life was the perfect example of ‘one life,one mission’ and I,on behalf of the government and the people of Gujarat,heartily express condolences to Dr Kurien. The news of Dr Kurien’s demise is a major shock for the whole nation,which was mesmerised by the ‘White Revolution’ inspired by him.

Narendra Modi

Chief Minister,Gujarat

I am deeply grieved to learn of the passing away of Dr Verghese Kurien.

Dr Kurien was a man of extraordinary vision,whose achievements in the dairy industry empowered hundreds of thousands of farmers,created a model for milk cooperatives that has inspired millions of others.

Sonia Gandhi

Congress president

It was due to the efforts of Mr Kurien that our country was able to become one of the major milk producing nations in the world… He was the icon of India’s co-operative movement and his role will be remembered for generations to come.

L K Advani

BJP leader

Promoting and establishing close to 150,000 village cooperatives with about 15 million members and leading India to becoming the world’s largest milk producer is no mean feat. It is the good fortune of a few in this world to be associated with a leader who has a vision that becomes a reality… By his example,he has taught us to act with courage when faced with those who oppose the interests of our nation and its farmers.

Amrita Patel

Chairman,NDDB,Anand

(Dr Verghese) Kurien dedicated his life to the cause of empowering humble Indian farmers through co-operatives. He strongly believed that by placing technology and professional management in the hands of farmers,the living standards of millions of rural poor could be improved. He helped the fledgling dairy co-operative movement and was forced to stay there to see it flourish. The rest is history.

R S Sodhi

Managing Director,GCMMF

Kurien’s passing away marks the end of an era in the country. The people of Gujarat and the country will forever remember the ‘Milk man’ who had founded the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation and worked tirelessly to make India the world’s largest milk producer.

Nitish Kumar

Chief Minister,Bihar

Milk produce co-operative societies have been mainly responsible for strengthening the rural economy. In the death of Kurien,the nation has lost a committed promoter of cooperative movement and an able administrator.

Jagadish Shettar

Chief Minister,Karnataka

He is an iconic figure; easily the greatest Indian of the last century. He really solved the problem of poverty and unemployment in rural India and his model continues to be put into use through constantly expanding cooperatives.

Y K Alagh

Chairman,IRMA

As GCMMF chairman and later as its advisor,(Dr Verghese) Kurien has been a great support for us and his demise is a great loss for us. He guided the dairy cooperative movement in India and brought social and economic development in the lives of milk producers. We are committed to fulfilling his dream.

Vipul Chaudhary

Chairman,GCMMF