Shastri’s NDDB Sparked India’s True White Revolution
The article argues that India’s real White Revolution was not just Operation Flood under Kurien, but the foundational vision of Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. In 1964, during a visit to Anand, Shastri was deeply impressed by the village-level dairy cooperative model already emerging there. He championed the creation of the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) in 1965, appointing Verghese Kurien to replicate that transformation nationwide .
By institutionalizing a producer-owned cooperative framework, Shastri’s move set the stage for the 1969 launch of Operation Flood, later celebrated as the White Revolution. Unlike isolated improvements, this represented a strategic, decentralized dairy sector overhaul—anchored in Amul’s Anand model—giving farmers control over procurement, processing, marketing, and pricing .
As India’s largest milk producer since 1998, surpassing the US, this farmer-led transformation doubled per-capita milk availability and created enduring rural livelihoods . The NDDB’s continued evolution, including cooperative expansions and modern infrastructure, stems directly from Shastri’s early policy framework .
Industry Insight:
This analysis reframes the White Revolution as a policy-driven cooperative movement, not just a development program—underscoring the importance of cooperative-led models, community empowerment, and decentralized infrastructure for sustained dairy-sector growth and resilience.
Source : Dairynews7x7 June 24th 2025 Read the full story here