Full Form of AMUL

Amul or Anand Milk Union Limited is an Indian dairy cooperative society based out of Anand, which is a district in Gujarat. Derived from the Sanskrit world 'Amulya', Amul tends to also mean precious or priceless.

Today, Amul is managed by the Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF), which is a body comprising 3.6 million of the biggest milk producers of Gujarat today.

The White Revolution and The History of Amul

Registered on 19 December 1946 as a response to the local milk farmers being exploited by the agents and dealers of the Polson dairy (one of the major milk farms at the time), Amul formed an organization of rebellion. At the time, the price of the milk was set randomly the Government gave Polson dairy the monopolistic rights to collect milk from Kaira dairy farmers and supply it to Mumbai.

Tormented by this treatment, the dairy farmers of Kaira visited Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel with their leader Tribhuvandas K. Patel. They were advised to frame an organization and supply milk directly to the Bombay Milk Scheme rather than relying on Polson. Moraji Desai was sent to sort out the issues that were being faced by the farmers. This organization at Kaira was called the Kaira District Co-usable Milk Producers' Union (KDCMPUL).

As most were minor dairy farmers, who could provide 1-2 litres of milk each day, Milk collection was decentralized. For every town, cooperatives were formed.

The Kaira District Co-usable Milk Producers' Union (KDCMPUL) had begun pasteurizing milk for the 'Bombay Milk Scheme' by June 1948. Amul celebrated its 25th Anniversary in 1973 with Morarji Desai, Maniben Patel, and Verghese Kurien, under the leadership of Tribhuvandas Patel.

Dr Verghese Kurien with H.M. Dalaya was additionally responsible for creating and heading the cooperative. The first modern dairy of Amul was the result of Dalaya's innovation of making skimmed milk powder from buffalo milk for the 1st time in the world and then producing it on a commercial scale with help from Kurien. Many established market players couldn't take the competition from Amul.

The immense success of Amul then gradually spread to Anand's neighbourhood in Gujarat. Then, five unions in different districts such as Mehsana, Baroda, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, and Surat were set up by the "Anand Pattern".

The White Revolution of India began in 1970. The Gujarat Co-operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd. (GCMMF) was set up to join the forces and then expand the market. It was during this time that Amul transferred to GCMMF.

GCMMF has since then become the largest food products marketing organization in India. In Gujarat, GCMMF is the leading organization of dairy cooperatives. For the exclusive marketing of products that fall under 'Sagar' and 'Amul' brands, it is GCMMG that is responsible.

The dairy cooperatives in Gujarat have created an economic network over the last five and a half decades. This links more than 3.1 million village-manufactured milk products with millions of consumers in India.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on September 30, 2018, inaugurated Amul's chocolate plant in Mogar, Anand near its headquarters.

Amul: Structure

Amul uses the "Anand design" cooperative framework which is a three-level structure that involves town social orders, region-level dairy associations, and a state-level organization. All the levels of this structure are free from the others and they involve agents selected from the level below it.

It is pretty simple to comprehend. If there are not enough funds with one person to generate the required capital for the company, then the other members who have the same intention pitch in their resources together to make up the whole organization with substantial capital. The "Anand design" cooperative framework is highly advantageous as it ensures faith in the brand. Even the banks are more lenient towards lending loan money to cooperative businesses over individual ownerships. Today, the Amul Cooperative includes 30 Lakh farmers from all over India.

The Kaira District Milk Cooperative Union (Amul), situated in the town of Anand, has grown exponentially. It now covers 2.12 million farmers, supporting 10,411 towns' milk and focuses on fourteen area-level plants (associations) under the general supervision of GCMMF.

Since its inception, it was assumed that this activity would profit the poor farmers directly and then add to the improvement of society. GCMMF and Amul understood that the development and improvement of the farmers couldn't be left to the market powers.

Amul's Three-tier Model

Amul follows a 3-step process where each body functions effectively. The three tiers include:

• Village Dairy Cooperative Society: Within this structure, every milk farmer becomes a part of the cooperative of the village dairy society, which is a community for manufacturers.
• District Milk Unions: The members of the Village Dairy Cooperative Society elect their representatives who form the District Milk Union.
• State Milk Federation: The responsibility of this federation is the distribution and the selling of the products.

Conclusion

This was all about the Anand Milk Union Limited or Amul that changed the course of milk farming and selling in India.