XLRI holds 2nd Dr. Verghese Kurien memorial oration

Jamshedpur : �Life is a privilege and to waste it would be wrong. In living this privileged life, you must accept responsibility for yourself, always use your talents to the best of your ability and contribute somehow to the common good.�� Dr. Verghese Kurien.

XLRI- Xavier School of Management today organized the 2nd �Dr Verghese Kurien Memorial Oration on Sustainable Development� in memory of the Founder of AMUL Dr. Verghese Kurien, otherwise known as �the Milkman of India�.
The oration was delivered by Bunker Roy, Founder and Director, Barefoot College, Tilonia, Ajmer on the topic �The 21st Century Gandhian Model to Sustainability�.

Bunker Roy is an eminent social activist and educator, recognized as one of the 50 leading environmentalists by The Guardian in 2008, and as one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine in 2010. An alumnus of Doon School and St Stephens College Delhi, Roy has been actively working for the rural people.

He established Social Work and Research Centre, popularly known as the Barefoot College, in Tilonia village, Ajmer (Rajasthan), with a mission to empower rural poor through training for building self-sustained communities.

The College, which is fully solar electrified, is built and managed by the poor, and provides skills for sustainable living, including as solar engineers, teachers, midwives, weavers, architects and doctors to rural communities. Over the years, the Barefoot College has trained more than 3 million people, and its program/ approach has been implemented in over 30 of the Least Developed Countries.

The event began with the welcome address by Prof. Madhukar Shukla, Chairperson of XLRI�s Fr. Arrupe Center for Ecology & Sustainability and convener of the oration. �We decided to institute this oration to create a platform to listen to and learn from thought-leaders, social entrepreneurs, development sector professionals and policy makers who have made significant contribution to the idea of a empowered, prosperous and sustainable society.

The oration is to commemorate the memory of Dr. Verghese Kurien and needless to say there is no better model of sustainable development both in terms of his life and legacy than Dr. Kurien�, Prof. Shukla said.

In his address, Fr. E Abraham, S. J. Director of XLRI said, �Dr. Kurien�s remarkable life and achievements are an embodiment of his faith in the ability of the common man to exercise control over his destiny.

We decided to institute this Annual Oration to commemorate Dr Kurien�s legacy – because his life and work exemplifies the model for a responsible management leader, combining business skills with the larger good of the society and nation-building.�

Reminiscing his association with Dr. Kurien, Fr. Abraham also shared some anecdotes on Dr.Kurien�s momentous career and his extraordinary leadership skills, �XLRI�s relationship with Dr. Kurien goes back to over 23 years.

I personally had an enriching association with Dr Kurien and was greatly inspired with his strategic foresight and single-minded determination in executing his vision for the dairy sector and more importantly in helping raise the living standards of millions of rural milk producers across thousands of villages in India�.