White Revolution
The revolution associated with a sharp increase in milk production in the country is called the White Revolution in India also known as Operation Flood. White revolution period intended to make India a self-dependent nation in milk production.
Operation Flood, launched on 13 January 1970, was the world’s largest dairy development program and a landmark project of India’s National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). It transformed India from a milk-deficient nation into the world’s largest milk producer, surpassing the United States of America in 1998 with about 22.29 percent of global output in 2018. Within 30 years, it doubled the milk available per person in India and made dairy farming India’s largest self-sustainable rural employment generator.
Dr. Verghese Kurien, the chairman and founder of Amul, was named the Chairman of NDDB by Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri. Kurien thrust the program towards success and has since been recognized as its architect. If there was one technological breakthrough that revolutionized India’s organized dairy industry, it was the making of skim milk powder out of buffalo milk. The man who made this possible was Harichand Megha Dalaya.
Verghese Kurien, known as the “Father of the White Revolution” in India, was a social entrepreneur whose “billion-liter idea”, Operation Flood, made dairy farming India’s largest self-sustaining industry and the largest rural employment sector providing a third of all rural income.
March to Dandi
In 1835 When The British Still Controlled India, The British Enforced A Salt Tax That Raised The Price Of Salt and Prohibited The Collection, Production, and Selling, If Anyone Were To Do So Apart From The British They Would Be Put In Prison For 6 Months.
Many Including Gandhi Found The Enforcement Of The Salt Tax Unfair And On 12th March 1930 Gandhi And 78 Freedom Fighters Walked To Dandi From Gandhi Ashram To Protest Against The British.
During The Journey, Many People All Over India Joined The March, When They Got To Dandi Gandhi Picked Up A few Grains Of Salt And Said “With These Crystals Of Salt I Am Going To Shake The Foundations Of The British Empire.
With The Dandi, March Gandhi Started A Civil Disobedience Movement, After The British Heard About This They Imprisoned 80,000 Indians Including Gandhi.
Soon The British Relented And Let The People Go And Invited Gandhi To Britain Where They Discussed Reforms In India.
Economic Reforms in India
Economic reforms refer to the changes made in the economy with a view to solving the prevalent economic problems of the country. In India, economic reforms were introduced in 1991, with the implementation of a New economic policy. 1991 was a landmark year for India, with economic reforms changing the way we live, work and spend money.
- Growing Fiscal imbalances over the 1980s
- License Permit Raj
- Spiraling oil prices due to Gulf War
- To tackle this situation, the Ministry of Finance and RBI officials asked the International Monetary Fund for a loan for India.
Amidst this, India also faces political problems and has to call the 1991 Lok Sabha Elections.
On 21 May 1991, in Sriperumbudur, Chennai, while campaigning, former PM Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in an explosion. Thus, India faces a political crisis too. India had a new PM, P.V. Narsimha Rao. when Narsimha Rao meets Cabinet Secretary Naresh Chandra, he asks, “Is the economic situation that bad?’ “No, sir. It’s much worse,” is Naresh Chandra’s reply.
On 25 June 1991, Manmohan Singh holds his first press conference as the Finance Minister. In July 1991, the Government goes into firefighting mode, taking many steps to strengthen India’s Economy.
- Step 1: Devalue the Indian Rupee
Step 2: Minister of State for Commerce, P. Chidambaram announces the New Trade Policy.
Step 3: 47 tonnes of gold is transported to the Bank of England, helping India to borrow
about 400 million dollars. - Step 4: P. J. Kurien, the Ministry of State for Industry announces the New Industrial Policy.
“No power on Earth can stop an idea whose time has come.”
Victor Hugo
Everyday Reflections 