Kollam: Prayar Gopalakrishnan, who passed away on Saturday, played a pivotal role in making Milma the "goodness" that each Keralite wakes up to today.
Prayar's father was a cattle farmer, and he grew up delivering milk to various tea shops. The milk boy was not a priority for the tea stall owners, who discarded him – and several others like him – as mere cattle herders.
Prayar felt it as an insult to be treated as a mere cattle herder, and it made him resolve to work in the dairy sector.
He became the chairman of Milma in 1982, an office which he held for a long period. His elevation to Milma's top post was not a smooth one. He organised dairy farmers in Kerala and formed Milk Societies Association, which later paved the way for Milma. Prayar often recalled his visit to Anand in Gujarat, where he met Varghese Kurien, the father of India's White Revolution.
Prayar conducted a jeep rally from Kasaragod to Thiruvananthapuram, highlighting the plight of dairy farmers and milk cooperatives. He called for replicating the Anand model in Kerala. The then minister K R Gouri Amma visited Gujarat and held talks with Kurien. However, Kurien felt replicating the model in Kerala would not succeed.
Prayar and Kerala stood firm on their demand, and Kurien, who was the chairman of the National Dairy Development Board, allotted funds to the State, leading to the birth of Milma. He later lauded the success of Milma during its 10th anniversary celebrations.
Kerala Livestock Development and Milk Marketing Board had been distributing milk in Kerala till the formation of Milma. The Board had a loss-making plant at Thevally in Kollam.
At a time when IAS officials were heading boards and corporations, Prayar, a dairy farmer, took up the reins of Milma as its first chairman. He diversified Milma's business, took over the Thevally plant, ensured a sure market and better prices for milk. A system was put in place to ensure the farmers are paid on time.
As milk production increased, Milma established a milk powder plant in Alappuzha. Cattle feed factories were opened at Pattanakkad and Malampuzha in Palakkad, which put an end to the monopoly the Tamil Nadu lobby had over the feed market. This was before Kerala Feeds was formed.
Slew of welfare measures
Prayar also launched a slew of welfare measures: scholarships for the children of farmers, immediate ex-gratia of Rs 10,000 to the families of deceased farmers, transportation charges for bringing cattle from outside Kerala etc. Milma was thus involved from rearing cattle to marketing multiple dairy products under Prayar's chairmanship.
Bathing cows and milking them were Prayar's favourite "duties" as a farmer. He continued it till he breathed his last at the age of 72. He had India's smallest Vechur cow breed to the largest, Kankrej, in his farm.
