India and its love for milk in incredible! It is a staple in every household, not only in India but all across the world. These views were expressed by Dr. A K Puniya, Dean College of Dairy Science and Technology on the occasion of National Milk Day, at College of Dairy Science and Technology, Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (GADVASU), Ludhiana. In association with Amul, India, GADVASU celebrated National Milk Day. On this occasion an elocution competition was conducted on the topic of "Role of Dairy Co-operatives in Dairy Development in India" in which students of college participated with full enthusiasm and came up with innovative thought and ideas regarding present status of dairy co-operatives and its role in further development of dairy industries in future. Maitri Goyal bagged first prize, Harsimran Riar on second position and Shreya Talan stood for third prize. Mukul Sen and Gurwinder Singh Bajwa got the appreciation award.
Chief Guest of the occasion, Dr. Sushil Kumar Prabhakar Registrar, GADVASU) addressed the guests and depicted importance of quality attributes of milk. He also remembered the contribution of Dr Verghese Kurien, the Father of India's White Revolution, and appreciated Dr Kurien's "Billion-Litre-Idea", which helped India to earn the reputation of the world's largest agricultural dairy development programme. He said that milk is a part of blessings in our culture.
Mr. Abhishek Sharma, Branch Head, Amul informed that National milk day is celebrated every year on 26th November to mark the birth anniversary of Dr. Verghese Kurien, also known as Milk Man of India. He said that milk is a complete food in itself as it contains proteins, fat, minerals & lactose to take care of energy requirements of all age groups. He revealed that Amul is collecting 2 crore litres milk daily through all its centres.
Dr. Sushil Prabhakar and other dignitaries gave away the prizes to the winners. They appreciated the efforts of College and Amul to celebrate the day in a meaningful way. Dr. Puniya and Abhishek Sharma congratulated the winners of the contest. The event was coordinated by Dr. Amandeep Sharma, HoD, Department of Dairy Engineering and Dr. Inderpreet Kaur, HoD Dairy Economics and Business Management as coordinator.