| Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy | |
|---|---|
Dr. Sudarshan, a well-known social worker and tribal activist recognized for his work with the Soligas in BR Hills |
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| Born | December 30, 1950 [1] Yemalur, Karnataka, India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Other names | Dr. Sudarshan |
| Education | Doctor |
| Known for | Public Health, Tribal rights, Activism, Gandhism |
| Religion | Hindu |
Dr. Hanumappa Sudarshan Reddy (Kannada: ಡಾ. ಎಚ್. ಸುದರ್ಶನ್) (born 30 December 1950) is an Indian social worker and tribal rights activist. He is well known for his contributions to the upliftment of the forest dwelling tribes (mainly Soligas) in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka. He is also a recipient of the Right Livelihood Award and the Padma Shri.[2][3]
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Dr. Sudarshan Reddy was born in Yemalur on the outskirts of Bangalore. He graduated from Bangalore Medical College and became a medical doctor in the year 1973. He is also an Adjunct Professor at IGNOU.[1]
Dr. Sudarshan, after graduation, he joined the charitable health institutions of Ramakrishna Mission which took him to the Himalayas of Uttar Pradesh, Belur Math in West Bengal and Ponnampet in Karnataka as part of the job.[4] Instead of pursuing a medical practice in the cities, he decided to work with tribal communities and in 1980, he started the Vivekananda Girijana Kalyana Kendra for the integrated development of the tribals in the Chamarajanagar district of Karnataka.[2] He is also the founder and Honorary Secretary of the Karuna Trust, which is dedicated to rural development in the states of Karnataka and Arunachal Pradesh. He claims inspiration from the man-making and nation-building ideals of Swami Vivekananda. He advocates Gandhian ideals for rural development.[5]
VGKK is an organization with a mission of Sustainable development of tribal people through rights-based approaches to health, education, livelihood security and biodiversity conservation.[6] Founded in October 1981 by Dr. Sudarshan, VGKK has worked with tribals in the Chamarajanagar 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 organization has always had a tribal youth as its President. Presently, Jadeya Gowda one of the first few children who was taught by Dr. Sudarshan is the President. He went on to do a graduation and post-graduation in agriculture and is presently doing his PhD at the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bangalore.
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] VGKK also has a system of co-operatives which employ the tribals directly and it has also made an effort towards sustainable extraction of non-timber products and creation of tribal enterprises to process them.
VGKK is an established voluntary agency recognized by the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India.
Started in the year 1986 by Dr. Sudarshan, Karuna Trust (India) is an organization involved with integrated rural development and is affiliated to VGKK.[7] The prevalence of leprosy in Yelandur Taluk of Chamarajanagar district was the motivation to start this trust. Another focus area for this trust is education and livelihood improvement. Karuna Trust runs 25 Primary Health Care (PHC) Centres in all the districts of the state of Karnataka and 9 PHC's in Arunachal Pradesh. The organization promotes Public Private Partnership with NGOs on a non-profit basis to achieve primary health care.
Dr. Sudarshan has held many positions in his career, prominent among which are the chairmanship of the Task Force on Health and Family Welfare organised by Government of Karnataka, the Task Force on Public Private Partnership organised by National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) of Government of India and Institute of Health management & Research (IHMR), Bangalore.[4] He was also associated as a member of Working Group 6 on Macro-economics & Health organised by the World Health Organization and was also a Steering Group member of the Planning Commission on the Empowerment of Scheduled Tribes in India's 11th Five Year Plan. He has also been the Vigilance Director for the Karnataka Lokayukta, an ombudsman organization. During his tenure, he adopted a method of regular visits and raids to several Government departments and earned critical acclaim for this.[8]