Udupi: Badagubettu Village Adopted by TAPMI

By Divvy Kant Upadhyay, Manipal
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi

Udupi, Sep 6: Inaugurating a conference on ‘Serving the Bottom of The Pyramid (BOP) Customers’ and an NGO Mela at the T A Pai Mangament Institute in Manipal on Saturday, September 5, Home Minsiter Dr V S Acharya said that BOP- concentrated activities consider the underprivileged sections of the society as partners rather than just manufacturers or consumers. “Under the BOP initiative,w e stop thinking of the poor as victims but see them as creative entrepreneurs as well as value demanding consumers” he said.

Dr Acharya who also formally inaugurated the T A Pai Centre for ‘Inclusive Growth’ complimented TAPMI on adopting the Badagubettu village.

Terming ‘education’ and ‘healthcare’ as the chief drivers of basic economic growth for any country, Pro Chancellor of Manipal University and Trustee of TAPMI, Dr HS Ballal stressed on the importance of bringing rural people into the mainstream. To do so, he said, "it would be necessary to follow a model such as PURA" suggested by Former President of India, Dr APJ Abdul Kalam. Dr Ballal feels that Provision of Urban Amenities in Rural Areas (PURA) is most crucial in bringing the rural population at par with progress made in urban centres. He also commended TAPMI for discharging its social responsibility taking care of the people of Badagubettu.

Vishwanath Nayak, President of the Badagubettu panchayat also spoke on the occasion.
Director, Centre for Rural Studies at Manipal University, Dr Krishna Kothari and CEO of the Philips Inovation Centre at Bangalore, Alexius Collette were among the key speakers on the first day of the two day conference.

TAPMI Director Dr Saji Gopinath was present along with Conference chairperson Prof Vrishali Bhat and Co-chair Prof H S Srivatsa.