Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Minister for Home and Cooperation Amit Shah are scheduled to attend the golden jubilee celebrations of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) on February 22 in Ahmedabad.

The celebrations are expected to be held at Narendra Modi Stadium at Motera near Ahmedabad. “It is a huge celebration. The event will mark the 50 years of GCMMF and will also see participation of a number of milk cooperatives and state federations from across India,” Jayen Mehta, Managing Director of GCMMF told businessline.

“Though Amul started in 1946, GCMMF was set up only in 1973-74. Between 1946 and 1974, the dairy cooperative movement spread across six districts of Gujarat including Kheda, Mehsana, Sabarkantha, Banaskantha, Vadodara and Surat. When these milk cooperatives went into the markets with their products they were exploited by the traders. So the chairmans of the six district unions and Dr Verghese Kurien came up with the idea to set up GCMMF,” Mehta said, adding that the objective of the umbrella body was to set up its own distribution and marketing network.

Currently, 18 district milk unions are part of the GCMMF network in Gujarat and have a cumulative turnover of over ₹72,000 crore. “This is the world’s largest dairy cooperative owned by 36 lakh farmers in Gujarat,” the official added. 

Source : The Hindu Businessline Feb 15th 2024