A Visit to the Soul of India’s White Revolution

A Visit to the Soul of India’s

 White Revolution

I recognized the shrill cries of peacocks, the sounds of the common myna and the parrots which woke me up even before the sunrays had hit the earth, but could not identify the ruckus being created by one other feathered creature. It was nowhere to be seen amidst the neat, similar, squarish grey buildings shadowed by tall trees, or hopping in the lush green grass and shrubs being fed by sprinklers. I scanned the scene—and there it was: fluttering wings in the nests perched high above, just past the frilly tops of palm trees. A largish black avian with an orange-red beak. (I still do not know the name). But that gave me the idea - so, making me a bird in my next life could be one of the choices I should suggest to God.

In my current incarnation, I am still searching for life’s grand purpose, so when I see people genuinely working to make the world better, a wave of hope, optimism and positivity washes over me. I start feeling grateful. No, not talking about those who promise to work when (if and only) they win elections, get a ministerial berth, and funds they have not worked for. I talk of the real doers.

That was last week in Anand, known as the Milk Capital of India.  We all know that Amul as a movement, started in Anand, but there is also the National Dairy Development Board, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand Agricultural University and Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA), which make the town the epicentre of hectic activity in rural economy improvement.

We were not there for sightseeing, no palaces, forts, gardens, museums, temples on the itinerary. We were there to trace the story of India’s milk revolution, right at its epicentre: ground zero for rural economic resurgence.

Those among you who agree that to check the migration of rural population to urban areas, we need a mega boost to activities and occupations for helping those in villages have a better lifestyle and fat bank accounts, would appreciate the initiatives and projects of the NDDB.

In 1965, when Z + security for people’s representatives was perhaps unheard of in India, Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri stayed one night at a farmer’s house in Ajarpura village. The family’s early morning bustle made him aware of the success of the Anand dairy farmers’ cooperative movement and gave him the idea of replicating it at national level.

NDDB logo

According to NDDB, the board was ‘entirely created by the funds gifted by the Amul and Kheda farmers, perhaps the only instance where a national body was created by a cooperative of the farmers.’

The objective was to make dairying a profitable business by supporting institutions owned and operated by farmers who come together to form a cooperative. The emphasis was on empowering women and the less privileged sections of the society.

This has been achieved through on-the-ground projects, and training of producers, supported by research and modern technology.

That iconic drop-shaped logo of Operation Flood isn’t just a symbol, it marks a quiet revolution. Over 26 years, with a little help from the World Bank, and a lot of grit from our farmers, India rose to become the world’s largest milk producer.

If your kids or grandkids believe milk magically appears from pouches and cartons from cows with barcodes, it might be time to take them on a reality check to one of the villages adopted by NDDB. Trust me, the sight (and smell) of a real dairy might be a good way to reconnect with the source of your morning chai.

Milk collection centre
Top: Testing unit Bottom: Storage tanker

We started with the local milk collection centre, open daily from 6:30 to 9:30, morning and evening. Farmers with steel cans in hand (hygienic and sometimes gifted by NDDB), bring in their milk. It is filtered through cheesecloth in a large tub, stirred to blend the cream, tested for fat and SNF (solids not fat). A quiet little machine prints out the milk’s resume—volume, fat content, and payment. Then, through a pipe, the milk flows into a chilling tank cooled to 4°C, ready for its daily journey to the Amul factory.

Meanwhile, the payment goes directly into the producer’s account. Comes year-end and based on the quantity of milk poured, a part of the profits of the dairy cooperative society at village level, is paid to each member as patronage bonus.

Such a neat system! Consumers get pure, unadulterated milk, while farmers enjoy fair, stable prices, no haggling, no seasonal swings.

A walk through Parikrama, the NDDB digital gallery, gave us the feeling that NDDB is a temple to the holy cow-literally. It conducts training courses and provides knowledge portal for producers and cooperatives, providing practical guides on breeding (artificial insemination), nutrition & health. Veterinary doctors offer cows a support system in time of ill-health.

NDDB also runs dedicated plants to produce compound cattle feed, a carefully balanced mix of grains, brans, protein meals, and agro-industrial by-products. Alongside production, it offers advisory support to ensure quality, from raw material selection to feed formulation. To uphold standards, it even awards a ‘Quality Mark’ for good feed.

One project we went to see is in Mujkuwa village, a few kilometres from Anand city. It is a successfully running pilot gobar gas (gas produced from cow dung and used for cooking) project started a few years ago.

In Punjab, I had seen huge biogas units working. Water mixed in cow dung is fed into a closed receptacle. Bacterial action causes fermentation, producing methane which is piped to the kitchen for cooking and the slurry is used as organic manure in fields. But this sturdy polyethylene balloon, sufficient for a farmer owning four to five heads of cattle was, if I may use the word, rather cute.

Rural women, unsurprisingly, welcomed it. It freed them from the exhausting routine of collecting and storing firewood, and the daily struggle with smoke, cinder, ash, and grime. The plant now gives them clean cooking fuel, right at home, with no need for frequent refills and no recurring cost after the initial setup—something the NDDB thankfully supports. It's a big win, especially for women, easing a burden they’ve carried for generations.

It reduces waste and the nutrient-rich nearly odourless, bio-slurry piped to the fields, is environment- friendly.

We met the owner woman who was a part of the pilot project and honestly, her confidence made me feel a bit self-conscious. She is not confined to her home and hearth any more. She attends conferences, talking about her experience with the kind of poise you’d expect from someone giving a TED talk. As we were leaving, she casually handed us a visitor’s book to sign, as if the visit was some high-profile event. 

Whatever you might have thought, when cows burp, they release methane, a major culprit of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming. In their complex digestive system, bacteria ferment food and produce methane, which is released through belching.

The NDDB is now exploring ways to capture and repurpose methane from cattle, turning a by-product into potential energy.

NDDB researches, tests, and facilitates novel livelihood strategies for lasting self-reliance for farmers, like solar energy generation

One such initiative, we were witness to, was a small solar energy farm. The farmer who earlier earned a mere Rs 15000 a year from fodder cultivation on a patch of land, now gets at least Rs 35,000-40,000 annually from the sale of excess solar power to the common grid.

I never intended for this to become an essay on the objectives, functions, or achievements of NDDB. But talking to them, I found myself deeply moved by the unwavering dedication and passion of everyone involved - the farmers, the NDDB staff, from technologists, veterinarians and animal breeding specialists (they also work on genetic improvement), quality control analysts, researchers, to maintenance, business and sales managers. Some them have traded corporate high salaries for the chance to make a real difference in the lives of rural communities.

It was proof of how beautifully an organization can thrive when it is allowed to operate without bureaucratic interference. Decades of service, still meaningful, still impactful, something truly rare and inspiring.

As long as institutions like NDDB are allowed to continue their work undisturbed, I can honestly say, with my hand on heart, aal iz vell. (To be concluded)

                                                                                               - Anupama S Mani