Tribhuvandas laid foundation of Amul, says Amit Shah; Kurien shaped it, says Opposition

Shah said the Bill will strengthen the rural economy and provide the country with new leadership in the cooperative sector. “There is a need for trained human resources everywhere, and this university can give us this. Cooperatives became weak because those who were involved gave work to their own people. There were no degrees in cooperative sector, so how were standards to be set? Once this university comes up, only those with these diplomas and degrees will get these jobs,” said Shah. He said there are no common courses now for the cooperative sector in institutions across the country and the University will offer degree, diploma, and certificate courses besides enhancing research in the sector.

Referring to Kurien, TMC’s Saugata Roy said, “They spoke of Tribhuvandas, but the person who did the technical work at Amul, his name was not mentioned… Verghese Kurien. It was Kurien who gave shape to Amul… Today Amul dominates the Indian market.”

“My fear is… in making this Bill, the independence, the autonomy, the lifeblood of cooperative movement…might be taken away. BJP government… believes in centralisation of power. Dr Kurien set up Institute of Rural Management, and till date it is the only institute imparting training to managers working for cooperatives… ” he said.

RSP’s N K Premachandran said, “I fully respect Tribhuvan Patel. But I would like to appeal to the government that IRMA may be in the name of Dr Kurien.”

On the university’s name, Shah said: “Behind this name is a model that astonished the world… and a person — Tribhuvandas Kishibhai Patel. He laid the foundation for Amul. Before Independence, in Gujarat, milk from farmers would go to a dairy in Mumbai. When the farmers asked for a hike in price, the dairy stopped buying milk. Under the leadership of Tribhuvandas, they went to Sardar Patel, who told them… ‘agar aapko ghulami hi karni hai, toh shoshan ko bhi sehan karna padega (If you wish to be slaves, you also have to bear exploitation). And if you don’t want to tolerate exploitation, then make a cooperative society and sell the milk yourself’. A small cooperative was formed, and from there, it has now become the world’s strongest cooperative brand. Tribhuvandas Patel was among those who laid the foundation of the cooperative sector in India.”

Congress MP M K Raghavan said he did not understand the intention behind the Bill since IRMA is “an autonomous institution that has existed for years”. “IRMA has a legacy… It was a collaborative effort between the National Dairy Development Board, the government of Gujarat and other stakeholders. It was away from bureaucratic and political interference.”