Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra (VGKK)
VGKK is an organisation with a mission of Sustainable development of tribal people through rights-based approaches to health, education, livelihood security and biodiversity conservation. [7] Founded in October 1981 by Dr. Sudarshan, VGKK has worked with tribals in the Chamarijanagar district and Mysore district of Karnataka and also with tribals in the states of Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and has interacted with about 20,000 people. The organisation has always had a tribal youth as its President. Jadeya Gowda, one of the first few children who was taught by Dr. Sudarshan, is the President. He did a graduation and post-graduation in agriculture and has completed his PhD from the [University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore], Presently working as Associate Professor at College of Forestry, Ponnampet.
VGKK runs a 450 pupil school for the tribes of B R Hills where the students are provided education equivalent to that provided in the urban areas. Subjects related to the tribal welfare such as environmental issues, tribal values and culture are also a part of the curriculum. VGKK also has a vocational training institute where 16 crafts are taught. As a result of the efforts of VGKK, about 60% of the Soliga tribe now get a minimum of 300 days of employment per year from the Forest Department of Karnataka and other agencies. [3]
Arunachal Pradesh is a state in northeast India. It was formed from the North-East Frontier Agency (NEFA) region, and India declared it as a state on 20 February 1987. Itanagar is its capital and largest town. It borders the Indian states of Assam and Nagaland to the south. It shares international borders with Bhutan in the west, Myanmar in the east, and a disputed 1,129 km border with China's Tibet Autonomous Region in the north at the McMahon Line. Arunachal Pradesh is claimed in its entirety by China as South Tibet as part of the Tibet Autonomous Region; China occupied some regions of Arunachal Pradesh in 1962 but later withdrew its forces.
Chamarajanagar or Chamarajanagara is the southernmost district in the state of Karnataka, India. It was carved out of the original larger Mysore District in 1998. Chamarajanagar town is the headquarters of this district.
Kuppahalli Sitaramayya Sudarshan was an Indian activist and the fifth Sarsanghachalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), a Hindu nationalist organisation from 2000 to 2009.
The Biligirirangana Hills or Biligirirangan Hills is a hill range situated in Chamarajanagar District in south-western Karnataka, at its border with Tamil Nadu in South India. The area is called Biligiri Ranganatha Swamy Temple Wildlife Sanctuary or simply BRT Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a protected reserve under the Wildlife Protection Act of 1972. Being close to the Eastern Ghats as well as the Western Ghats, the sanctuary has floral and faunal associations with both regions. The site was declared a tiger reserve in January 2011 by the Government of Karnataka, a few months after approval from India's National Tiger Conservation Authority.
Bookanakere Siddalingappa Yediyurappa, often referred to by his initials BSY, is an Indian politician. He is been serving as a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National Parliamentary board committee since 17 August 2022, which is considered the highest office of authority in the party. He served as the 13th Chief Minister of Karnataka, and he was former Member of the Karnataka Legislative Assembly between 1983 - 2022 in different timelines. He is a member of the Bharatiya Janata Party. He is also the only politician in Karnataka so far to have served four times as the Chief Minister and three times as the Leader of the Opposition in the Karnataka Legislative Assembly. He is the longest serving BJP Chief Minister of Karnataka. He is former MLA from Shikaripura constituency in Shimoga district, from where he has been elected eight times.
Bangalore Medical College and Research Institute (BMCRI), formerly Bangalore Medical College (BMC), is a medical college in Bengaluru, India run by the Government of Karnataka. It is on K.R. Road, near City Market. It is one of ten government medical colleges in Karnataka. BMCRI is an autonomous institution under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru.
Sargur, is a small town located about 80 km from the town of Chamarajanagar And a Taluk of Mysore district of Karnataka, India. H D Kote (Heggadadevanakote) is about 12 km north of Sargur. It is 55 km from the city of Mysore. Bangalore International Airport is 200 km away. To be more elaborate, Sargur is 33.8 km from Nanjangud town (Karnataka), 35.1 km from Gundlupet town (Karnataka), 137.8 km from Udagamandalam town (Ooty) Valley and 38.8 km from Hunsur town (Karnataka).
Saalumarada Thimmakka, also known as Aala Marada Thimmakka, is an Indian environmentalist from the state of Karnataka, noted for her work in planting and tending to 385 banyan trees along a 45-kilometre (28 mi) stretch of highway between Hulikal and Kudur. She has also planted nearly 8000 other trees. With the support of her husband, she found solace in planting trees.
Yemalur is a village, about 14 km from Bangalore city in Southern India. It is situated between the HAL Airport of Bangalore and the Bellandur lake. The village has about 4000 inhabitants. Most of the local people have been living here much before Bangalore became a major city.
Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) is a development organization founded by a group of medicos led by Dr R Balasubramaniam based in Saragur near Mysore in the Indian state of Karnataka. The organization is engaged in building a new civil society in India through its grassroots to policy-level action in health, education and community development. For tribal They have been recognized by private and government bodies inside and outside of Karnataka. Their work in the field of AIDS prevention was recognized by the Indian government. They received awards such as the 'National Youth Award' from the Indian government, and the Mahaveer Award for work in Community and Social Service from the Mahaveer Foundation.
Karuna Trust (India) is an organization involved with integrated rural development and is affiliated to Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra. Both charities were founded by Hanumappa Sudarshan. The motivation to start this trust was the prevalence of leprosy in Yelandur Taluk of Chamarajanagar district. Another focus area for this trust is education and livelihood improvement.
Pema Khandu is an Indian politician and the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh. He is the son of former Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Dorjee Khandu. Since assuming the office of the Chief Minister in July 2016, he and his government have twice changed their party affiliation; in September from the Indian National Congress to the Peoples Party of Arunachal, and then in December 2016 to the Bharatiya Janata Party. Previously he had served as Minister of Tourism, Urban Development and Water Resources in Nabam Tuki's government.
Halahalli Shreekantha Shetti Mahadeva Prasad was an Indian politician from the state of Karnataka and five-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from the Gundlupet constituency of the Chamarajanagar district. He first won the Karnataka Legislative Assembly elections in 1994 while representing Janata Dal. He was re-elected in five straight subsequent elections in 1999, 2004, 2008 and 2013. Throughout his political career he had been member of Janata Dal, Janata Dal (United), Janata Dal (Secular) and the Indian National Congress. At the time of his death in January 2017, he was the incumbent state minister for Cooperation and Sugar in the Government of Karnataka led by Siddaramaiah as Chief Minister.
Sondekoppa Ramachandrasastri Ramaswamy is an Indian writer, journalist, biographer, social activist and environmentalist. He has authored more than 50 books and thousand articles both in Kannada and English. He is recipient of the "Karnataka State Sahitya Akademi Award" (1992) for year's best work in social science. In 2015, he was honoured by Hampi University, Karnataka with the 'Nadoja' award. An avid campaigner for environmental issues and people's rights, he has led numerous movements both at state and national level for conservation of vast tracts of rich flora and fauna from ill-planned Government policies. His years as a writer and chronicler brought him under the influence of doyens of literature and public life such as D. V. Gundappa, V. Sitaramayya, Rallapalli Ananta Krishna Sharma, Yadava Rao Joshi and P. Kodanda Rao. His writings essentially mirror the literary, cultural, nationalist and developmental problems that are contemporaneous to the present day scenario. S. R. Ramaswamy is currently the honorary Editor-in-Chief of Kannada monthly "Utthana" and "Rashrothana Sahitya" at Bangalore.
Dr. Kamini A. Rao is a pioneer in the field of Assisted Reproduction in India. She has specialized in reproductive endocrinology, ovarian physiology and assisted reproductive technology and has been awarded the Padma Sri, one of India's highest civilian awards. Dr. Kamini A. Rao is the medical director at Milann – Centre for Reproductive Medicine.
Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam, known as Dr R Balu, is a development scholar, author, public policy advocate, leadership trainer known for his development work with rural and tribal people in Saragur and Heggadadevana kote Taluks of Mysuru in Karnataka, India. He founded Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM), a development organization based in Saragur when he was 19. He is also the founder and chairman of the Grassroots Research And Advocacy Movement (GRAAM), a public policy think tank in Mysuru. After spending 26 years in development work among rural and tribal people, he pursued academic degrees in leadership, organisational development and public policy. He was the Frank T Rhodes professor at Cornell University between 2012 and 2014, and has held academic positions in Cornell and other universities. His books Voices from the Grassroots and I, the citizen (2015) are compilation of narratives and reflections of a development expert. He published Power Within: The Leadership Legacy of Narendra Modi in 2024.
Ramadas Panemangalore Shenoy was an Indian defence scientist and writer, known for his contributions in the field of radar technology. He secured a doctoral degree in electrical engineering from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and joined Defence Research and Development Organization in 1961, involving himself with the indigenous development of radar technology till his retirement, as a Distinguished Scientist, in 1989.
H. Sudarshan Ballal is an Indian kidney transplant physician, nephrologist currently director of Manipal Institute of Nephrology and Urology, the chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of Manipal Hospitals Group and Senate Member of Manipal University, now known as Manipal Academy of Higher Education (MAHE).
Sathyanarayan Mundayoor also known as Uncle Moosa, Uncle Sir is a educationalist and social activist from India. Born in Kerala, Satyanarayanan has been working in Arunachal Pradesh for the last forty years. He received India's fourth highest civilian honor Padma Shri in 2020 for spreading education in Arunachal Pradesh.
