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said, “Improving lives means improv-
ing productivity. Productivity of labour,
productivity of land, and productivity
of resources, such as water, energy and
materials. And improving productivity
needs technology, to extend and multiply
the capabilities of the human and animal
effort on which the large numbers of our
marginalised compatriots solely depend.
Technology means tools, instruments,
methods and know-how, all of which can
be subsumed under the metaphor of a
machine. Some of the machines needed
for improving the economic performance
of rural communities already exist, result-
ing from the 200 years of experience
worldwide since the Industrial Revolution.
Others, needed to address the different life
and livelihood issues that are peculiar to
the rural economy, must be invented and
delivered to a widespread market. This
requires disruptive innovation of the kind
pioneered by the Green and White Revo-
lutions: a new Machine Revolution.”
To explain how machines and institu-
tions can bring about the kind of impact
on the lives and livelihoods of India’s
rural poor, Dr. Khosla gave example of
TARAlife, a social enterprise recently
set up by the Development Alternatives
Group, in his speech.
TARAlife is the latest initiative of the
globally recognised 35-year-old social
enterprise, Development Alternatives
Group, to motivate and help entrepreneurs
create local industries and sales channels
for basic needs and aspirational products,
and simultaneously generate jobs, income
and purchasing power in rural areas. It is a
new enterprise launched in March, 2017 as
a market-based solution to poverty, hunger
and environmental destruction. The pur-
pose is not only to deliver good financial
returns on investment, but also make
much needed transformational economic,
social and environmental contribution to
India’s future.
In his address, Fr E Abraham, SJ,
Director, 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. This faith helped him to create
The memorial oration was established
in 2014 and has been presented annu-
ally to commemorate the memory of
Dr. Verghese Kurien, well-known as the
Milkman of India.
Dr. Kurien was the force behind de-
veloping a sustainable model for the
| spotlight
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Dr. Verghese Kurien
Memorial Oration
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06
magis
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november 2017
TV Narendran, Global CEO & MD, Tata Steel, (centre) presents a souvenir to Dr. Ashok Khosla (right) as
Dr. Madhukar Shukla, Chairperson, FACES, (Left) looks on