Time to go

In an interview in 1981, Verghese Kurien said that he was 59 and that the time for him to retire was approaching.

A quarter century later, he is fighting desperately to retain the offices he holds, after squabbling with his chosen successor at the National Dairy Development Board, and resorting to extreme tactics to fend off critics at the Institute of Rural Management: sacking its director and physically shutting the door on people of the eminence of Bakul Dholakia (director of the Indian Institute of Management at Ahmedabad) and Hasmukh Shah (former chairman of IPCL)—and in the process marking IRMA’s annual convocation with ugly scenes, including the walk-out by Amrita Patel, the NDDB chairman with whom Dr Kurien had a public slanging match some time ago.

There may be rights and wrongs on both sides in this messy battle, and the courts will have their say. In some ways it may simply be a clash of egos. But at the end of the day it is a sad sight to see a distinguished old man with more achievements in one lifetime than most people can notch up in three, refusing even in his 80s to recognise that his time to step off the stage has long come and gone.

Few can question Dr Kurien’s contribution to the country’s dairy sector. Without him, India would not probably have become the world’s largest milk producer, eliminated its dependence on European dairy aid, and given birth to a prosperous dairy industry.

Dr Kurien’s contribution to the growth of the co-operative sector has been equally pioneering and unique. It was his faith in the cooperative dairy model that helped free the sector from ‘babu’dom to the degree that we see today.

It was also largely through his untiring efforts that the multi-state cooperative bill was passed, curtailing the almost absolute power the registrar of cooperatives in a state had over cooperatives.

The country will also be grateful to Dr Kurien for his sustained building of an enduring brand in Amul.

But Dr Kurien has never been shy of fighting rough, either, and usually likes to negotiate for himself a monopoly position which he then exploits.

This does not always deliver the expected results (as in edible oil), but on balance the achievements outweigh the negatives. The problem today is that he remains reluctant to fade away.

That he managed to get himself a life-chairmanship of IRMA is bad enough, since it violates the democratic spirit that should govern all elective posts.

Surely, in a world where Bill Clinton at 55 had served two terms as US President, and where Tony Blair at 52 is fighting his last election as leader of the Labour party, Dr Kurien should ask himself whether he presents an edifying sight, fighting at 83 to hang on to the chairmanship of an institute and causing mayhem in the process.