The Rural Development and Self Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) conceived and promoted by Dr. Veerendra Heggade is a unique experiment in public private partnership for social service. This programme has been implemented as a joint venture of Dharmasthala in conjunction with Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank. The Institute trains unemployed youths and helps them to become self employed.
Having established SKDRDP to carry out his initiatives, Shri Veerendra Heggade turned his attention to yet another burning issue, the unemployment among the rural youth.
Not finding avenues of employment, the rural youth were increasingly moving towards cities in search of jobs. Shri Heggade realized that this exodus could be disastrous for the future of the area. He had to stop it. He conceived of an idea which he shared with Canara Bank and Syndicate Bank. Together they laid the foundation of yet another movement that grew into gigantic proportions. This movement was named Rural Development & Self-Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI)
RUDSETI identifies opportunities, trains the youth in developing desired skills and assists them in their entrepreneurial activity. A highly practical concept, it caters to the needs of both boys and girls.
Started in the year 1982, the RUDSETI concept has become a national programme with Govt. of India advising all the banks to open one RUDSETI in each district of the country. The twenty seven RUDSETIs promoted in seventeen different states of the country have successfully helped more than 4,07,389 unemployed youth to become entrepreneurs as well as respectable citizens of the country.
RUDSETI at Dharmasthala provides quality training to the directors of the All India SETI Institutes. This model has attracted the attention of the Central Government. Under NRLM (National Rural Livelihood Mission) the Govt. of India has undertaken to replicate the RUDSETI model in 577 districts of the country.
Dr. Heggade has been requested by the government to head the monitoring committee for over all supervision of these institutes.
A Monitoring Cell for the SETIs has been created with a National Director by the government. Shri. Janardhan Shenoy has been working as the National director for RSETIs.