ABSTRACT
In 1965, Government of India established the National Dairy Development Board as the lead agency to promote and assist dairy development in the country. This decision followed a visit by the then Prime Minister of India, Mr Lal Bahadur Shastri to Anand, a small town in Gujarat state, inhere the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers' Union (AMUL) had its headquarters. He was greatly impressed by the work of the Union in organising dairy cooperatives for small farmers in the surrounding rural areas. Upon return to New Delhi, he wrote to the Governors and Chief Ministers of the state governments drawing their attention to the successful Anand pattern of dairy cooperatives and exhorting them to take steps to promote such cooperatives in their states. However, there was no tangible response to his plea from any of the states. Though Mr Shastri died shortly thereafter, Government of India (GDI) proceeded to set up the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) with headquarters in Anand. The new Board was given a broad mandate to develop the dairy sector of the country and Or V.Kurien, the General Manager of the Kaira District Cooperative Milk Producers Union, was appointed as its chairman.
