Anand (Gujarat) [India], December 6 (ANI/NewsVoir): Institute of Rural Management Anand (IRMA) celebrated the centenary of its Founder Dr Verghese Kurien, popularly known as the Father of the White Revolution in India. The celebration, dubbed, the Kurien Mahotsav, was organized from 20-27 November 2021 and included a host of academic and socio-cultural activities.
The Mahotsav began on 20 November 2021, with a blood donation camp that IRMA organized in association with the AD Gorwala Blood Centre, Anand. 75 people donated blood for the noble cause. This was followed on 21 November 2021 by a city-wide cycle rally that saw participation from nearly 700 riders from Anand, Ahmedabad and Vadodara.
The rally visited all the Dr. Kurien established institutions in Anand like IRMA, Anandalaya School, National Dairy Development Board (NDDB), National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI), Vidya Dairy, IDMC Limited, Amul, and GCMMF.
The ‘Kurien Mahotsav’ was formally inaugurated at the IRMA Auditorium on 24 November 2021. The Chief Guest of the event was Dr Shreekant Sambrani, First Member Secretary and Director, IRMA. Also present were Prof. Tushaar Shah, Former Director, IRMA; Dr R.S. Sodhi, MD, GCMMF; Shri Meenesh Shah, Chairman, NDDB; Shri Mangaljit Rai, Chairman, NCDFI; and Shri Mrugank Paranjape, MD, NeML.
During November 24-27, 2021, a host of academic activities including seminars and symposia on a wide range of themes such as “Linking Dairy Science to Technology”, “Rural Management Paradigm: Instrumental or Transformational?”, “Economic Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities through Collectives: Frameworks for Management”, “Farming Futures: Reimagining Producer Collectives in India”, “Collectives in the Wake of External Shocks: Study of Water Users Association and Handloom Weavers,” “Measurement of Financial and Social Performance in Collectives” and “Analytics in Dairy Cooperatives,” were conducted successfully with participation from academics, practitioners and policymakers of national and international repute.
Apart from the academic activities, the IRMA family also celebrated the occasion by organizing a host of socio-cultural activities like a clothes donation drive, a cultural program, and a special program by SPIC MACAY by Shehnai Maestros Pt. Ashwani Shankar, Pt. Sanjeev Shankar, and Shri Anand Shankar.
The Mahotsav ended on 26 November 2021 with the Tenth Dr Verghese Kurien Memorial Lecture by Arun Maira, Chairman, HelpAge International who shared his wisdom on the topic, “A billion fireflies: Critical conversations to shape a new post-pandemic world”.
IRMA thanks the National Cooperative Dairy Federation of India (NCDFI), NeML, Reliance Industries Limited and the National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India Ltd. (NAFED) for their association in making the Kurien Mahotsav a grand success.
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