Leadership traits

Innovator:
• Invented the process of making skim milk powder and
condensed milk from buffalo milk instead of from cow
milk.
• Amul girl was created – Dr kurien suggested a mischievous
little girl as a mascot with two requirements i.e., easy to
draw and memorable.
• Range of prdoucts.
Nation builder:
• Taken India from milk deficient to milk surplus nation
• Build a whole family of institution around NDDB to realise the dream
of strong Indian dairy industry founded on cooperative lines
• Founded the institute of rural management (Irma) at Anand and over
30 years, Irma graduates have made a mark in cooperative, agri
business and non profit sectors of Indian economy.
Empowering the poor:
• Empowerment of the rural poor was him real aim and milk merely the
best tool available
• His dairies taught poor farmers to value cleanliness, discipline and
hard work
• Liberalisation in 1991 came as an appalling shock and he had no
intention of letting private companies back into the dairy business
Flexible change agent:
• Dr kurien faced an uphill task in the initial years of Amul, but he was
flexible to seek remedies.
• For example the rapid growth of Amul movement resulted in overcapacity
of milk in winter months when the production of milk was on average 2.5
times higher than other months. Farmers again were forced to sell at lower
rate to middlemen. Dr Kurian sought the assistance from the central food
technological research institute in Mysore to produce baby food and cheese
from buffalo milk. This was the worlds first commercial cheese and baby
food production form buffalo milk. His skilful handling of challenges and
moving forward earned him the praise of PM Lal Bahadur Shastri on many
occasions in the sixties and he recommended his “extraordinary and
dynamic leadership”