Dr. (Ms.) Amrita Patel succeeded Dr. V. Kurien as Chairman of the National Dairy Development Board in November, 1998, As the Dairy Board’s Managing Director and then as Chairman, Dr. Patel has been responsible for the implementation of Operation Flood. A National cooperative dairy structure that presently includes more than 10 million members of nearly 95,000 village dairy cooperative societies, affiliated to 170 district and regional unions and 22 state federations.

Internationally, Dr. Patel has represented the Indian dairy industry in a variety of fore including the International Dairy Federation, FAO, and in bi-lateral activities with a number of countries. Farmers of other countries to visit and make use of the NDDB’s facilities and expertise in India. Institute of Rural Management, Anand, a post-graduate educational institution designed to prepare managers to serve rural institutions. Dr. Patel’s contributions internationally have been recognised by her election as a member of the Board of Trustees, International Livestock Research Institute, Nairobi.

The Government of India has called on Dr. Patel to serve in a number of capacities that include serving as a Director, Central Board of Directors, Reserve Bank of India; Director, Board of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD); Chairing the National Advisory Committee on Control of Animal Diseases as well as the National Advisory Committee on Veterinary Vaccines, Drugs and Biologicals; Joint Scientific Panel of the Indian Council of Agricultural Search to deal with problems of research and development related to Dairy Science; Standing Policy Planning Committee of the Governing Body of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. She chaired the Animal Feeds Sectional Committee of the Bureau of Indian Standards and was a member of: the Steering Group for Policy Review of the Livestock Sector; the Joint Council for Vocational Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development, and the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India.

Dr. Patel has played a leading role in environmental advocacy. She was a Trustee, World Wide Fund for Nature, India. She is the Chairman of the Board of Governors, Society for Promotion of Wasteland Development, Member of the Board of Governors,

Indian Institute of Forest Management as well as Chairman of the Board of Management of the Sardar Patel Renewable Energy Research Institute.

Dr. Patel’s strong commitment to delivering health services to rural people in general, and women in particular, finds expression in her chairing the Charutar Arogya Mandal, a trust that manages the Shree Krishna Hospital and Pramukhswami

Medical College at Karamsad, Gujarat. Both the 550 bed hospital and the medical college were created to serve the rural people of Kheda and surrounding districts of Gujarat. The medical college, almost uniquely in India, focuses its activities

on training and sensitizing doctors regarding the need to serve rural India. The hospital works closely with the Tribhuvandas Foundation, of which Dr Patel is a Trustee, the largest NGO in Asia which delivers maternal and infant health care in over 600 villages of Kheda district.

Honors:
Dr. Patel has received a number of recognitions and honors, some of which include:

Fellowship awarded by the Indian Dairy Association for contributions made to the country’s diary development.

“Krishi Mitra Award”, recognition of the services to India’s farmers and farming community by the World Agricultural Fair Memorial Farmers Welfare Trust Society.

“Dr. Norman Borlaug Award” for contributions in the field of dairy development and animal husbandry and for the leadership and dynamism shown in creating sustainable peoples’ institutions to meet their needs for fuel and fodder. Awarded by Coramandel Fertilizers, Ltd.

Doctor of Philosophy (honoris causa) awarded by the Gujarat Agricultural University, Banaskantha.

FIE Foundation National Ward 1993 for outstanding contributions in agricultural science and, specifically, development and management of the cooperative dairy industry.

“Sahakarita Bandhu Award” for outstanding contributions to Indian cooperation, awarded by the Indian Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative for the year 1995-96.

Conferred the title “XLRI Fellow in Management” by the XLRI, Jamshedpur for outstanding and lifetime contribution in forging the Cooperative Movement among the milk producers.

“Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Award for 1999-2000” for nation building by the Indian Science Congress Association.

“Padmabhushan” by the Government of India.

“Women Achievers’ Award” by the Delhi Women’s League of All India Women’s Conference.