Shri Veerendra Heggade, inspired by humanity.
Even though he had brilliantly executed all the responsibilities of a Heggade, Shri Veerendra Heggade was not content with what he had done. He felt that these Danas were just temporary forms of relief to the people. He had to liberate the people from the shackles of poverty, oppression and archaic social customs handed down over many generations. This thought inspired him to launch a crusade that would echo through the hills of the Western Ghats and beyond.
What transpired in the coming years was a renaissance of epic proportions. He breathed new life into the inhabitants of the villages dotting Belthangady taluk and drove away their listless and indifferent attitude to their existence.
Simple but far reaching reforms brought together the farmers into a collective, proactive group. Fondly called as Pragati Bandhus, what these groups collectively achieved over the years redefined the practice of co-operative farming.
Not just the farmers, but also their fields were reformed and the entire rural society and its ethos was completely transformed.
Shri Veerendra Heggade realized that the various initiatives he had set in motion had grown into a massive movement that needed to be channeled in the right direction. He established Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) to handle all these initiatives.
He brought in professionals to oversee each of these initiatives. These professionals were personally hand-picked by Shri Heggade. They were chosen for their dedication, knowledge and experience. They became the core strength of SKDRDP.
Sri Veerendra Heggade’s insatiable desire to lift mankind from the depths of chaos and uncertainty has motivated him to constantly update his movement to match the new trends of the society and the economics of the region. His experimentation with macro and micro financing has become the subject of research by leading economists of the country. In fact they have become classic case studies.
The all round prosperity, self confidence and the happiness that envelopes the lives of the people Shri Veerendra Heggade has touched through his initiatives is there for the world to see. It would need volumes to chronicle what this gentle, unobtrusive and benign crusader has achieved.
The Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (R.) (SKDRDP), another well known experiment of Dr. Heggade started in 1982, is engaged in organising the small farmers and the poor women into Self Help Groups (SHG) for accessing various services. This programme has mobilized 3.05 million families in the state of Karnataka into 2,83,600 SHGs who have a cumulative savings of 1,011.00 crores and a loan turnover of ` 10,388.00crores.
The micro finance, the micro insurance and micro enterprise services of SKDRDP have transformed the village life. Up till June 2014, SKDRDP had been functioning in 23 districts of Karnataka state comprising of 20,842 Villages and 320 urban towns. The project is facilitating empowerment of 3.05 million families in the areas of agriculture, transfer of technology, women empowerment, housing, alternative sources of energy, income generating activity, micro finance, education, health, total sanitation and health insurance.
Dr. Heggade is deeply concerned with sustainable energy programmes. All the guest houses in Dharmasthala have solar water heater installations which produce 100,000 litres of hot water every day. The giant biogas plants in Dharmasthala supply cooking gas to the kitchen of Dharmasthala. Besides this the SKDRDP has been encouraging poor people to acquire sustainable energy assets. So far more than 25,000 families have purchased different sustainable equipments through the micro credit programmes of SKDRDP.
Another area of Dr. Heggade’s interest is the prevention of alcoholic abuse. Having realized that alcoholic abuse is a true enemy of the poor people, Dr. Heggade has promoted “Janajagruti”,a movement in which public opinion is created against alcoholic abuse. A large number of de-addiction camps have been set up, which have helped thousands of labourers to give up alcohol, thus bringing happiness and prosperity to their families.