Articles
A Tribute to Dr Jaswanta Rao
Dt: 29/6/21
A Tribute to Dr Jaswanta Rao
Dr T H Chowdary*
· Blessed are those who add to the sum total of happiness in the society
· Blessed are those who help the weak and poor to become strong and self-reliant
· Blessed are those who use their talents to build them in others
We must so live that dying we can say that I have given my best for the happiness of society
- V Lenin
Only the actions of the just smell sweet and blossom in their dust.
- James Shirley
“Purushulandu punya purushulu veraya”
(All are men; but the beneficent are different)
2 . These thoughts come to my mind when I sat to write my impressions of Dr Veerapaneni Jawant Rao who born in a farmer’s family in a village in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, educated in a school in a nearby village, graduated in a college in a small town ; got a doctorate in veterinary science and dedicated himself to bring prosperity to rural families of farmers by organizing them into co-operative societies of milk producers and taught them thrift and measures to improve milk yields of their cattle and established an appealing and winning brand name , Vijaya for the milk the co-operatives produced and marketed. This has been Dr Jaswanta Rao’s spirited and dedicated life’s work. He knew no fear. His beneficence extends to nearly 50 lakh milk producers, in 37,000 hamlets and villages, provides work to over 74,000 people who collect, process and distribute over 12 lakh liters of milk daily. The cattle owner -farm-dependent people are Vijayies (victors), thanks to Dr Jaswant Rao.
3. I recall with pleasure and admiration my friendship with Dr Jaswant Rao. The late Dr.B.Vasudeva Rao , a Padma Sree awardee, brought cheer and prosperity to men and women in villages by evangelizing poultry farming among farmers and poor households. He established the NECC – National Egg Coordination Committee so the egg farmer dictated the price for his produce. So did Dr Jaswant Rao help the milk producers. It is to such inspired pioneers that the nation should be grateful. I succeeded through my decades-long work to change the telecom regime in our country from one of “ Apply apply- no reply” to “Hath Haath mein telephone and gaon gaon mein Internet”. Dr Jaswan Rao’s and Dr Kurian’s pioneering work helped India to become the world’s largest producers of milk. Dr Jaswant Rao cheerfully and gratefully acknowledges the inspiration and encouragement, Indian Dairy titan, the late legendary Dr Kurian Varghese of Amul gave to him for his pioneering work.
4. I hope and believe that Dr Jaswant Rao would find honorable memory and respect among our people, especially the rural folks and the country’s intelligentsia . (446 words)
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