ANAND : Milk capital of India

Anand is one of the most successful examples of people transformed by co-operative efforts. It was esta-blished in the 9th century by a cowherd, Anand became fam-ous all over India after the Anand milk co-operative move-ment, started in 1946, transfor-med the lives of over 60,000 families in the area. Situated close to the historic town of Vadodara, Anand enjoys plea-sant climate almost throughout the year. It is well connected with other important cities of country by rail. 

Anand is situated 35 kms from Vadodara, which has Asia’s largest milk coopera-tive–the Amul dairy. The Anand milk co-operative (Amul) produces more than one mil-lion tonnes of milk every day. Seventy percent of the milk produced here is sent to various neighboring cities and nearby states. 

Milk products like butter, cheese, baby food, chocolates and milk-based drinks like Nutramul and cattle feed are also produced in this most modern complex. Amul is one of the most successful exam-ples of a co-operative venture’s in the country, a venture that has transformed the life of farmers in this region.

Dr V Kurien, the then Chair-man, National Dairy Develop-ment Board (NDDB), Anand and the erstwhile Indian Dairy Corporation (IDC) conceived the idea of establishing an institute for training rural man-agers in the context of Opera-tion Flood. Dr Kurien was convinced, on the basis of his experience as the Chief Execu-tive Officer of the Kaira District Co-operative Milk Producers’ Union Ltd, popularly known as AMUL, that professional mana-gement of co-operatives being established all over the country under Operation Flood was essential to their success. 

He also realized fairly early on that management graduates trained at Indian Institutes of Management and other schools would not fit the bill. He was a Member of the Board of Gover-nors of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) and had approached Prof Ravi J Matthai, the then Dire-ctor, IIMA, and its Board to see whether IIMA would consider training rural managers for Operation Flood Projects. He was told that IIMA graduates would not fit the bill. This was when he resolved to establish a new institution for this rather unique task. The rest is history. 

Operation Flood II had provi-ded Rs 50 lakh for manpower development. IDC was the fun-ding body and NDDB the implementing agency. NDDB established a Centre for Mana-gement and Consultancy in Rural Development in 1979. This Centre was the precursor of the Institute of Rural Mana-gement, Anand (IRMA). 

Dr Kamla Chowdhry, for-merly a professor at IIMA and an adviser to the Ford Founda-tion, New Delhi in 1979, sugge-sted to Dr Kurien in a brief doc-ument that this Centre should become a full-fledged, indepen-dent, national institute for it to do justice to the task at hand. NDDB accepted this proposal in principle and mounted a search for personnel to start and run the proposed institute.

Dr Shreekant Sambrani, at that time the Chief of Research Bureau of the Economic Times, Mumbai, and formerly profe-ssor at IIMA, was the first per-son to be invited to join the proposed institute as a Senior Professor. A Management Committee under the chair-manship of Dr Kamla Chow-dhry, with GM Jhala, MD of IDC and VC Sood of NDDB as members and Dr.

Sambrani as the Member-Secretary (the operating head of the Institute) was constituted. The Commi-ttee, through the Chairman and the Member-Secretary, was responsible for completing the substantive tasks as well as formalities leading to the establishment of the Institute. This was in July 1979. The target date to select the first batch of students was July 1980.

The funds provided for manpower development under Operation Flood II became the seed money for the Institute. The core IRMA personnel occu-pied a few small offices in the administrative block of NDDB. The first tasks were Identi-fication of a suitable location for the Institute, recruitment of faculty, program design, student intake, and numerous formalities connected with establishing a new institute. 

As the staff strength incre-ased, larger office space bec-ame necessary. The Diagnostic Laboratory Complex of NDDB had just been completed across the road from its main campus. NDDB graciously delayed its plans for its use and offered it to the Institute instead. This remained the Institute’s home until its own campus was ready. 

The Institute of Rural Management, Anand Society was registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and the Bombay Public Trusts Act, 1950, on Dece-mber 14, 1979.

IT Industry in Anand



This small city has channel partner and has also formed an association called Anand Asso-ciation of Computer dealers. The industry has never been ignored because the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB) also keeps updating itself. Computers, even outda-ted ones, are being put to simple but effective use by the National Dairy Development Board (NDDB). “We are helping cooperative unions across the country to set up computer systems, connecting the villa-gers who sell the milk to the union office and the union office itself to NDDB,” said A. Anand, senior executive at NDDB. NDDB is going to 1,000 villages, he said. Most importa-ntly, the middleman has been effectively sidelined with the help of the computer. 

At the milk production cen-tre in Anand, Gujarat, women take the milk to a weigh-bridge where it is weighed, the fat quantity assessed and the payment immediately calcula-ted by the computer. “Middle-men cannot cheat them saying the fat content is lower than it actually is,” said Anand. Reco-rds, right from quantities sold to payrolls, are automatically maintained and are tamper-proof compared to the time-consuming ledger work in the past.

Some Resellers>>>>>

ABC Computer



First Floor,Nagindas Chambers,Station Road,Anand


Tel : 243631


E-mail: abc_com_2000@ya-hoo.com 





ACE Computers


BH, BoB Nana Bazaar,Vallabh Vidhyanagar,Anand


Tel : 233695, 238379, 230532


E-mail: acccomputervvn@hot-mail.com 





Canny Services


First Floor,Gujurat Estate Building,Opp Anand Homeopathic College,Greed Road,Anand


Tel : 257775





Comp-U-Series



Second Floor,Usha Building,VV Nagar,Anand


Tel : 232816





Charotar Computer



7, Shantinath Complex,Mayfair Road,Anand


Tel : 254025





Computech Depot



Patel Tractor Compound,Anand Chikodra Road,Anand


Tel : 253783, 240231


Email: samirptc@popmail.com 





Digital System



5, Meghdoot Bungalow,Near Indraprasth Society,Anand-Vidyanagar Road,Anand


Tel : 247480


Email: divyaugbd@yahoo.com 





Dutt Computer


Near Vithalbhai Statue,Opp Krishna Transports GIDC,Vithal Udhyog Nagar ,Anand


Tel : 239786, 238904


E-mail: jayeshcpatel@usa.net 





Charming World


Bhalej Road,Anand


Tel : 252344, 57628, 57649





Inside Solutions


Kashi Estate,Gamdi Vad,Anand





Krishna Marketing Management



National Cycle Building,Juna Rasta, Anand


Tel : 259158


E-mail: ketuldesai@yahoo.com 





IBM Computer Services



Bhadukia Krupa,University Colony Road,Nana Bazar,Vallabh Vidyanagar,Anand


Tel : 236952, 239759


E-mail: uyagnik@yahoo.com 





One Step Solution


Tin-Murti Park,Near New Civil Court,Anand


Tel : 244571





Sai Marketing


Gita Vihar,Gamdi Vad, Anand


Tel : 244114





Shreeji Compu & Hardware Services



G-6, Bardanwala Complex,Near DSP Office,Anand


Tel : 250268





Softnet System



Second Floor,Shiv Complex,,Mota Bazaar,VV Nagar,Anand


Tel: 232266, 38845


E-mail: softnetsystems@ya-hoo.co.in 





Super Computer Services


First Floor, Sankalp,Near Indoafrica Hall,Sardar Gunj,Anand


Tel : 244222, 241322


E-mail: pnpatelanand@hot-mail.com 





Trio Computers



Above Music Center,Mota Bazaar,VV Nagar, Anand


Tel : 232833


E-mail: trio@yahoo.com 





Universal System


3, Krishna Society,Near Arunnodaya Society,Vallabh Vidyanagar, Anand


Tel : 231073





Vastu Engineering Agencies



Opp I O Bank,Nr Patel Tractor Co,Station Road, Anand


Tel : 241897, 256775


Email: vastueng@usa.net 





Western Sales Corporation


B-1, Shiv Corporation,B-1, Shiv Complex ,Opp Charotar Bank,Anand


Tel : 250401