Daijiworld Media Network

New Delhi, Apr 8: Dharmadhikari of Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Dr D Veerendra Heggade was on Wednesday April 8 conferred the Padma Vibhushan, the country's second highest civilian honour, in recognition of his immense contribution to society, especially in rural development and empowerment to women and youth through employment generation.

President of India Pranab Mukherjee handed over the award at a glittering ceremony held at Raj Bhavan here.

Dr Veerendra Heggade said he felt humbled to receive the prestigious award and added that he would dedicate himself to the cause of social welfare even more.

Expressing gratitude to god, he said, "Every activity I undertake is because of the experience I have gained from Dharmasthala temple. I interact with 500 to 1000 people every day and around 2000 people on Sunday and Monday, and when I talk to them, it is a learning experience because they share their personal grievances. I do not stop at just listening or telling them to pray in the temple. I gather the information they provide and look at it as a social worker."

Speaking about Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala and his work as Dharmadhikari, he said, "Shree Manjunathaswamy Temple has a history of 600 years, and throughout, the temple has chiefly engaged in two duties - one, serving lord Manjunathaswamy and looking after the temple activities, and two, taking care of the devotees who visit Dharmasthala to pray to lord Manjunathaswamy.

"Being the Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala, it is my duty to engage in charitable and philanthropic works. We have done charity works in an organized way through several programmes while ensuring that the aid reaches the beneficiaries directly. When your work is recognized by the government, the highest authority, it gives a feeling that the government is satisfied with your work, and that gives me satisfaction. It has stirred me to do even more in future," he said.

"I do all my work as a duty that I have to perform, and over the years I have found ways to improvise on the methods to attend certain issues and needs. I have a keen eye for detecting social problems and issues. The rural development project was started to restore people's faith in god, through self-employment, micro finance, women empowerment and so on. Ideas are plenty and I have a very good team supporting me that never steps back from any work," Dr Heggade added.

Dr D Veerendra Heggade, a visionary who has brought about a revolution in various fields, be it rural development, women empowerment, employment, healthcare, education or art, took charge of Dharmasthala temple in 1968, when he was only 20 years old. His innovative socio-economic programmes and projects have changed the lives of thousands. He is also a connoisseur of art and architecture, and has led the renovation of historical buildings and temples in Karnataka. He set up Rural Development Self-Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) in 1982 which is today spread across 13 states. His other popular initiative, Shree Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) has helped thousands of families to lead better lives.

In recognition of his services, Dr Heggade was awarded Padma Bhushan in the year 2000, followed by Rajiv Gandhi Award in 2007, Karnataka Ratna in 2009 and many more.

Apart from Dr Heggade, the Padma Vibhushan awards were also conferred on actors Amitabh Bachchan and Dilip Kumar, Prince Karim Aga Khan (trade and industry), Malur Ramaswamy Srinivasan (science and engineering) and K K Venugopal (public affairs).