OUR PRESIDENTS—Dr. R. P. Aneja - Indian Dairy Association

Our Presidents
The doyen of the Association
22
Early years and education
Dr. Ram Prakash Aneja was born
in Lahore on 2 nd July 1940. His
father Shri Radha Krishan Aneja
was an SAS Accountant with the
Government of India. The family came
from Makhdunpur near Kabirwala in
West Punjab (now in Pakistan). Coming
from a large family of six brothers and
two sisters Dr. Aneja initially studied
at the Ramjas School, Rohtak Road in
Delhi. From 1947 to 1950, their small
house in Karol Bagh, Delhi was a
refugee camp where some 30 relatives
found shelter after the partition of India.
The family moved to Jaipur in 1950
when his father got posted at the newly set up
Accountant General’s Office. His subsequent schooling
was at SS Jain Subodh High School and later at
Maharaja’s College, Jaipur.
Dr. Aneja obtained his degree in Dairy Science
from the National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal,
graduating with the first batch of B.Sc. (Dairy Science)
admitted in 1957. He was the very first student in its
very first batch. Prior to joining Karnal, he had visited
a dairy farm at Bassi near Jaipur during the summer
vacations in 1957 along with Sri Deen Dayal Sharma,
an IDD from NDRI Bangalore. Dr. Aneja was
completely overcome by the peace and tranquility of
the rural setting of the dairy farm. Curious to know
about IDD and what it entailed, he asked Sri Deen
Dayal whether a degree course in dairy technology
existed. There was none. A few days after this
conversation, he came across an advertisement from
NDRI, Karnal about a degree programme and applied
immediately. Dr Aneja remembers being interviewed
at the Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi by Dr. K.K. Iya
and Dr. N.N. Dastur along with Mr. Kishen Chand
(who later became the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi).
For Dr. Aneja, joining NDRI Karnal was a turning
point in his life. He joined the Dairy Science College
on 13 th July 1957. His neighbour Virinder Gupta and
classmate PKB Mehta from Jaipur also
followed him there later.
NDRI: A Formative Influence
Dr. Aneja recalls, “Dr. N.N. Dastur,
Principal, Dairy Science College, was a
great influence on all of us. He should
be given full credit for turning 20 raw
students into great professionals. He was
a great disciplinarian and had full faith
in our capacity. We were constantly
reminded that we were pioneers and had
to set high standards. I remember when
we were offered rather unattractive
salaries at the end of our course, Dr
Dr. Ram Prakash
Dastur asked us to move in the middle
Aneja
of our in-plant training from Anand to
Delhi Milk Scheme (DMS) so that he could ensure
good starting packages for us — the first ever graduates
in dairy technology. I was sent to HMM Nabha (now
GlaxoSmithKline) at Dr. Dastur’s recommendation.”
When Dr. Aneja was a student at Karnal, lack of
proper in-plant training was always justified on the grounds
that the dairy plants could not allow novice students to
handle expensive processing plants. As trainees at the
DMS, they were not allowed to run the processing
plants although the daily casual workers could do so.
Finding a clever way out, the enterprising students got
recruited as casual workers at ` 3.75 per day and were
thus able to obtain valuable experience on the processing
equipments. In this manner, they were able to restructure
the B.Tech. Dairy Technology course — it now consisted
of a full year of in-plant training following two years of
theoretical training. The new course also had a fourth
year at the end to learn advanced dairy technology. As
this required dairy plants run exclusively by the students,
two such dairies were set up on this pattern at Anand
and Karnal under the Technology Mission on Dairying
(TMDD). This was achieved with full cooperation from
NDRI and the Gujarat Agriculture University at Anand.
Dr. Jagjit Punjrath was instrumental in getting the Vidya
Dairy at Anand set up on firm footing.
Dr. Aneja went on to obtain his Masters degree
INDIAN DAIRYMAN OCTOBER 2012

Dr. Aneja took over as President of Indian Dairy Association (IDA) in 1990,
leading the Association on two occasions. His first term was during 1990‐91 and the
second during 1993‐94. He was the 16th President of IDA. His ties with the Association,
which go back a long way, continue to thrive till today. The erudite dairyman's is
a saga of innovation, enterprise and industry at every stage of his life.
in Dairy & Food Science from the University of
Saskatchewan, Canada and a Ph.D. from the Gujarat
Agriculture University.
He started his career by working in Dairy Plants
at the Delhi Milk Scheme, Horlicks, and then Hindustan
Lever. Subsequently, he taught Dairy Technology &
Plant Management at the Dairy Technology Institute,
Bombay, before moving on to Canada for higher education.
Noteworthy stint at NDDB
The eminent dairyman was with the National Dairy
Development Board (NDDB) right from its formative
years till 1990. In 1978 he was appointed the Secretary
of NDDB. He was instrumental in the planning and
implementation of Operation Flood I, II and III projects.
He was also responsible for the planning and
implementation of NDDB’s vegetable oil and oil seeds
project. Dr Aneja was an Ex-Officio Additional Secretary
to the Government of India, Ministry of Agriculture,
Department of Agriculture Research &
Education, and Director Technology
Mission on Dairying.
During Dr. Aneja’s tenure as one
of the Chief Executives of the NDDB
and IDC (Indian Dairy Corporation), the
annual rate of growth of the organized
dairy sector touched its peak of 20-25%.
He was also responsible for setting up
the Sugam Dairy at Vadodara, which
pioneered the manufacture of traditional
Indian milk products on an industrial scale.
He holds several patents largely for the
manufacture of traditional Indian milk
products.
After taking voluntary retirement from the NDDB
in 1990 at the age of 50, Dr Aneja established himself
as an international consultant in dairy and agricultural
development projects.
IDA beckons…
Dr. Aneja took over as President of Indian Dairy
Association (IDA) in 1990, leading the Association on
two occasions. His first term was during 1990-91 and
the second during 1993-94. He had now moved to
New Delhi from Anand and since he resided very
close to IDA House, was able to devote much time to
the Association. He recalls the improvements that were
made to the Indian Dairyman to make it more attractive
to the stakeholders. He has fond memories of the
assistance he received from the IDA staff, particularly
Mr. Altaf who was the key officer of the IDA at the
time. Indian Dairyman was also put on the PageMaker
through a local area network that was set up at that
OCTOBER 2012
Dr. Aneja with Mr. Rajiv Gandhi
and Mrs. Sonia Gandhi
INDIAN DAIRYMAN
23

24
Our Presidents
time. IDA also directly organized the Dairy Industry
Conference in New Delhi, which was an important
milestone.
Dr. Aneja had joined the IDA as a student member
in 1957 and therefore has a long association with it.
He has published a large number of papers/articles in
the Indian Dairyman and the Indian Journal of
Dairy Science. He was the Chief Editor of IDA
during 1978-79. He recalls the pleasure of having worked
with Dr. P. Bhattacharya and Dr. S.C. Ray who were
instrumental in building the IDA House. An incident
which rightly piqued him was when he was asked to
renew his (life) membership — he complained about
it to Mr. Gopinath, the then President of IDA. He had
seen the IDA office in the ‘Barsati’ of the IDC Office
in Greater Kailash. What a story of perseverance!
He recalls the difficulties the Association faced when
its charter was changed from the Indian Dairy Science
Association (IDSA) to the Indian Dairy Association
(IDA), as many scientists believed at that time that
the role of science would diminish in the Association.
Fortunately that never happened.
During his tenure, prominent coverage was given
to local dairy activities (like Aarey news, Haringhata
news, and DMS news) which kept members updated.
Dr. Aneja notes with satisfaction that such reportage,
in contemporary times, is much more detailed, informative
and topical — thanks to technology and the industrious
IDA staff.
An incident that caused considerable distress was
the cases filed by IDA vs. IDA during Mr. PH Bhatt’s
presidency. But time being a great healer, these issues
ultimately got resolved. Another important contribution
of Dr. Aneja was that he was instrumental in getting
the Dr. Kurien Award instituted.
In recognition of meritorious service to the dairy industry
Dr. Aneja was awarded the Fellowship of the IDA in 1989
at the Dairy Industry Conference held at Hyderabad.
A Global Icon
While living in New Delhi in the early 90’s, Dr.
Aneja taught at the FORE School of Management, helped
set up the FORE Institute of Rural Management and
participated in setting up an NGO for rural development
in Chamba (HP). He was also a member of the Planning
Commission’s High Powered Committee to make
recommendations on suitable institutional structure for
rural development. His wealth of experience and expertise
led him to assist the Bankers Institute of Rural
Development (BIRD Lucknow) in a study of the dairy
sectors of Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka for SAARC
drawing up long-term plans and policies for dairy
development in these countries. During this period Dr
Aneja also completed a study of the dairy sectors
in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand for the FAO.
He also authored a monograph on Operation
Flood — A Success Story for the FAO/APHCA
Bangkok.
He also served as the Team Leader of the
UNDP/FAO team that assessed the R&D
requirements of the Technology Mission on
Oilseeds, Government of India. Dr. Aneja then
moved to Kenya for a year as the Team Leader
of the Policy Planning Team under the Agriculture
Sector Management Project (ASMPII) funded by
the World Bank. As a result of the move to Kenya,
Dr. Aneja resigned as the President of IDA in
December 1994 and handed over the charge to
the then Vice President Shri Animesh Banerjee.
Her Majesty Queen Beatrix and His Royal Highness
Prince Claus of the Netherlands with Dr. Aneja at the
Product Development Laboratory of NDDB, Anand.
INDIAN DAIRYMAN OCTOBER 2012

Dr. Aneja with the then President of India
Giani Zail Singh
After a successful assignment in Kenya, Dr. Aneja joined
a Commonwealth Secretariat Team to look at the situation
of the dairy sector in Jamaica and make recommendations
on exploring its full potential. The Government of Jamaica
requested the Commonwealth Secretariat to depute Dr.
Aneja to assist in implementing the recommendations.
Dr. Aneja moved to Kingston, Jamaica for three years
to work for the Commonwealth Secretariat, as the Dairy
Development Adviser to the Government of Jamaica.
During this period, he helped set up the Dairy Board of
Jamaica as well as the Jamaica Dairy Farmers Federation.
One of the advisors to the Jamaican Government was
the Chairman of the Dairy Farmers of Canada, Mr.
Jacques Lafarge who subsequently invited Dr Aneja to
assist in setting up a new project for the New Brunswick
Dairy Farmers Cooperative in Miramichi, NB Canada
for production and marketing of traditional Indian dairy
products. Dr. Aneja was in Canada from 2001 to 2003.
Mr. V.S. Behla with his vast experience in
implementing Operation Flood replaced him in Jamaica
to strengthen the newly formed Dairy Federation.
While in Canada, Dr. Aneja along with Dr. R.C.
Chandan, Dr. B.N. Mathur and Dr. Asim Kumar
Banerjee, completed a well-illustrated book on Technology
of Indian Milk Products at the request of Mr. P.R.
Gupta whose labour of love saw this book published.
Since 1983 Dr. Aneja had encouraged and assisted
Mr. Gupta to bring out an annual compendium on the
Indian dairy industry entitled “Dairy India”.
OCTOBER 2012
Man with a mission…
Dr. Aneja was always interested in natural
resource utilization and energy conservation. One
of his earlier papers published in the Indian Dairyman
was on the intensity of energy use in milk processing
and packaging, comparing glass bottles, poly pouches,
bulk vending etc. The development of energy efficient
processing equipment particularly condensing and
drying machinery was a natural part of the R&D
efforts at NDDB.
One of the most significant (and least known)
academic works done at the NDDB was to study
the efficiency of energy conversion in India's milk
production system. The study carried out in the early
seventies under the leadership of Prof. Michael Halse,
FAO Advisor to the NDDB had pointed out the
possibilities of increasing India's milk production multiple
times without the need of sparing much land for milk
production by merely increasing the conversion
efficiencies. Dr. Aneja was one of the contributors to
the study by which Prof. Michael Halse subsequently
completed his Ph.D. requirements at the Harvard
Business School.
Career milestones
Dr. Aneja says that he started with the planning
of Operation Flood Project and manpower development.
Preparing perspective plans for dairy development in
the participating states was a great challenge in the
absence of reliable data. They were able to achieve
this task with the cooperation of the state agencies
setting up a comprehensive Management Information
Service (MIS) that helped monitor the implementation
of these plans and operate the National Milk Grid (NMG).
The renowned scientist says that the satisfaction of
seeing the emergence of the milk grid right before
their eyes would not have been possible without the
hard work put in by Shailendra Kumar, R.K. Nagar
etc.
Dr. Aneja was always interested in research and
development, particularly product development. Steve
Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc, once famously said —
INDIAN DAIRYMAN
25

Our Presidents
‘Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a
follower’. One can say that the quotation aptly describes
Dr. Aneja’s spirit of innovation and enterprise. He
says, “The setting up of the Sugam Dairy at Baroda
and the many processes we developed for the industrial
manufacture of shrikhand, gulabjamun, khoa, paneer
etc reinforced the place of our indigenous dairy products
in the dairy sector. We also helped develop mini milko
testers that are a great success. All this was possible
because of the support received from professionals
like M.N. Vyas, Dev Gupta, PV Mathew, Dr. SV
Pilkhane and TN Murti.”
Inspirations and Influences
Several people cross our paths during our lifetime
but there are some who leave a profound and lasting
impression on our psyche. The great dairyman pays
tribute to those who inspired him:
“Dr. N.N. Dastur, Dr. K.K. Iya along with many
other great teachers moulded us to face the challenges
of our profession and life in general. The twenty students
in the first batch became lifelong friends and a great
source of strength to each other. Sham Chaudhary
stands out as someone who helped me inculcate good
values throughout my career. I was fortunate to have
worked with great professionals. Amongst them were
Mr. Bedekar and Fergus Kelly at HMM Nabha, Dr.
A.P. Mahadevan and MG Mohoni at HLL Etah and
YR Karnik at the Dairy Technology Institute Bombay.
Mention must also be made of S.M. Shetty who was
Training Superintendent (Economics) while I taught dairy
technology. S.M. Shetty was a student of Prof. Brahma
Nand at The Department of Economics in Bombay
University who in turn was greatly influenced by Prof.
Laski of the London School of Economics. This association
with S.M. Shetty helped bring me greater awareness
on the broader issues of poverty and the great economic
divide in India. It opened my eyes to the economic
realities in India.
Later on it was at IIM Ahmedabad that Prof.
Michael Halse gave an entirely new focus to India's
agriculture and dairying. That exposure greatly helped
me understand the sector from a purely managerial
perspective and the related policy issues. Prof. Halse
was a mentor to a large number of professionals both
at NDDB and IRMA. His role though not recognized
generally, in building the dairy industry of India will be
always be etched in our hearts and minds.
The dairy sector in India has had some great people
contribute to its growth. Some are very well known
names like Dr. P. Bhattacharya, Dr. D.N. Khurody,
The first batch of NDRI graduates with Dr. K.K. Iya and Dr. N.N. Dastur
Standing second from left is Dr. R.P. Aneja
26
INDIAN DAIRYMAN OCTOBER 2012

OCTOBER 2012
The complete picture!
Dr. Aneja with his family
Dr. S.C. Ray, Mr. H.M. Dalaya, Dr. V.H. Shah, Mr.
A.K. Ray Chaudhary, Mr. G.M. Jhala, and Dr. Amrita
Patel etc. who all contributed very significantly. However
many of the contributions have gone unnoticed. Some,
that come to my mind are the contributions made by
Mr. N. Rajagopal the then Joint Secretary (Dairy
Development,GOI), Mr. G.V.K. Rao the then Secretary
to the Ministry of Agriculture, GOI and Mr. T.N. Seshan
who was later the Cabinet Secretary and Chief Election
Commissioner of India.
Working with the legend
Working with Dr. Verghese Kurien for over 24
years was a blessing. He led from the front and was
totally committed to the dairy farmers of India showing
the thoroughness that was needed to handle the
tremendous challenges facing us. He was able to muster
support at the highest levels in the country which helped
in the successful implementation of Operation Flood.
His real strength came from the farmers supported by
professionals working for them. This is an unbeatable
combination. I was lucky to have a ringside seat and
watch events unfold as they did to make the country a
leader in milk and milk products. My only regret is that
we missed the opportunity of merging NDDB and IDC
with NCDFI after the Jha Committee report on Operation
Flood. That would have made the dairy cooperatives
supreme in handling the affairs of the dairy farmers.
Speaking of his immediate family Dr. Aneja says
“I was truly blessed to have had a very upright father
and a loving mother who supported me unconditionally.
My father could not get the education that he wanted
and knew the value of higher learning. I was given
whatever was needed to pursue my goals. The values
of honesty, hard work and faith in the Lord were inculcated
in me from my parents. Later on, I was lucky to have
married Rama who gave up her career as a Doctor to
look after our two daughters, Punita and Urmi. Both
our daughters, son-in-laws and grandchildren have been
sources of great strength and joy to us.”
A Humanitarian to the core
Dr Aneja’s philosophy of life can be gleaned from
his thoughts reproduced below:
“Everyone has purpose on this earth. Some are
lucky to have it spelled out for them. Some struggle to
find their mission. I was just lucky that my path was
clearly spelled out and at every turning point there
were clear signals. I came to India from Canada to
get married and found a wonderful life partner.
Subsequently I ran into Michael Halse who prompted
me to join the NDDB. This made me stay back at
Anand for the next 24 years and I enjoyed very moment
of a very satisfying professional life. All the values
that were inculcated over my earlier years came in
handy. It is the process that is important and the end
result will ultimately be good. India has always produced
generations of people seeped in our timeless values of
honesty, sense of purpose, hard work and compassion.
The guiding principle has always been Love All Serve
All.
The damage done to the rich by the poverty in
India is far greater than the misery it causes to the
poor. The rich are refusing to see the reality and are
living in virtual bubbles. When the bubbles burst, the
reality will dawn on them in the most horrific manner.
INDIAN DAIRYMAN
27

Our Presidents
Dr. Aneja continues to pursue his lifelong mission of development of
industrial processes for the manufacture of traditional Indian dairy products
so that they find their rightful place in the global market.
28
I was lucky to have seen poverty in the raw. An
incident comes to my mind when we lived in a small
village, Navli (near Jaipur, Rajasthan) where my wife
was posted as a Medical Officer at the Primary Health
Centre. One day our neighbor's wife did not turn up to
pick up our one year old daughter whom they loved
and took care of while both of us went to work. So I
went to their house and it was quite clear from the long
drawn faces of everyone in the family that someone
had died in the family. I then asked one of the older
sons as to what had happened? I was told that the
buffalo died. For me it was just a question of an economic
loss but for the family it seemed to be a calamity. The
good lady then explained to me that her husband who
usually squanders away the money out of the annual
crop would not provide the money to buy another buffalo
to keep her and the entire family totally under his control.
Money earned from milk was hers to keep and that
took care of the day-to-day expenses giving her the
independence to look after the kids and their education.
That opened my eyes to the importance of the work
we were doing. It was quite clear that Dr. Kurien had
motivated a lot of professionals to dedicate their lives
to this noble cause of helping the rural poor who got as
much of half of their incomes from milk. That made us
all at NDDB, missionaries.
Fortunately for me the Market Intervention
Operation in Oils (MIO) was a God sent opportunity
to serve the country. My last two years in the NDDB
were known for the success that we achieved in making
the country self-sufficient in oilseeds and edible oils
through the Technology Mission on Oilseeds and the
Market Intervention Operation that I was handling.
Thanks to the tremendous support we received from
Dr. P.V. Shenoy who was the Mission Director and
his successor Mr. M. Moses along with Mr. K.R.
Rao who was deputed to the Technology Mission from
NDDB. Mr. G.K. Sood of the Vanaspati Manufacturers
Association of India was particularly helpful with his
knowledge of the oilseed sector. India achieved selfsufficiency
in oilseeds within three years — a feat that
needed a lot of planning and full support from everyone
in the Government. I wish we could do the same in the
energy sector. Dr. Kurien could have done that.
Since NDDB salaries at that time were aligned to
the government salaries and working at Anand was
more a labor of love, I needed to earn for my retirement.
Well-paying assignments came my way as result of
what we had achieved at Anand. The Lord looked
after us and now in retirement, I am able to contribute
to the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning at
Puttaparthy in Andhra Pradesh by telling stories of what
you can achieve if you have faith and confidence and
His grace.”
Unrelenting zeal: The mission continues
On his return to India from Canada in November
2003 Dr. and Mrs. Aneja went for a pilgrimage to
Puttaparthy, the abode of Sri Sathya Sai Baba. Mr.
S.V. Giri , the Vice Chancellor of the Sri Sathya Sai
Institute of Higher Learning invited the erudite Dr. Aneja
as Visiting Faculty at the Department of Economics
which was headed by Prof. V.N. Pandit (a well-known
economist from Delhi School of Economics).
Dr. Aneja continues to pursue his lifelong mission
of development of industrial processes for the manufacture
of traditional Indian dairy products so that they find
their rightful place in the global market. Currently a
visiting faculty member in the Dept. of Economics at
the Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, he offers
a course in Natural Resource and Energy Economics.
It has rightly been said, "Greatness is not found
in possessions, power, position, or prestige. It is
discovered in goodness, humility, service and
character." Dr. Aneja, untiring in spirit and mind
and unmatched in ability and enterprise, truly
embodies this saying. With his wealth of experience
and expertise, the multifaceted genius continues to
lead from the front. IDA and the entire dairy sector
is privileged to have amongst its midst a dairyman
par excellence!
INDIAN DAIRYMAN OCTOBER 2012