50 yrs of a milk revolution that changed Indian cooperative enterprises forever

Nilesh Patel, a 35-year-old farmer, stops for a moment to check his phone after selling three cans of milk at the collection centre of Bedwa Milk Producers' Co-operative Society Ltd in Bedwa village, home to around 6,700 people. He receives a text message confirming that he sold 8.19 litres of milk with a fat content of 9.4% and earned 2662.98, which was deposited into his account instantly.

- Maulik Pathak

"It is our third generation selling milk to the cooperative," Patel said, recollecting that he received a bonus of 275,000 last year for selling milk to the cooperative. Patel, who lives in the village with his family of seven, tends to 14 buffaloes and manages a farm spanning around 2 acres. He earns about 250,000 a month.

Patel is among the 1,863 member-producers of the village dairy co-operative society, a group that includes 511 landless farmers. This society supplies milk to the district milk union, the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers Union headquartered in Anand, less than 15km from Bedwa village, from where Gujarat milk cooperatives started before Independence.

A Tradition Of Cooperation

Patel's story is not confined to his village alone. He is part of a grand narrative, encompassing 3.6 million farmer-members spread across 18,600 village dairy cooperative societies in Gujarat. This expansive network collaborates under the umbrella of the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation having 18 district cooperative milk producer unions under its banner, which is celebrating the golden jubilee of its establishment this week. GCMMF manages 30 million litres of milk daily, clocking an annual turnover of 80,000 crore in 2023-24.

The milk, including Patel's contribution, undergoes processing and emerges as various products branded as Amul-India's largest FMCG brand and a global dairy powerhouse. On February 22, Prime Minister Narendra Modi along with Union home minister Amit Shah and Gujarat chief minister Bhupendra Patel will attend an event at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad where about 125,000 milk producers from the state will gather to celebrate 50 years of GCMMF.

"Amul" is derived from the Sanskrit word "amulya" which means "priceless".