Ramaswami Balasubramaniam
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Dr. Ramaswami Balasubramaniam (Dr R Balu) is a development scholar, author, public policy advocate, leadership trainer known for his pioneering development work with rural and tribal people in Saragur and
Heggadadevana kote Heggadadevanakote or H.D.Kote is a town and a taluk headquarters in Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kakana kote forest lies in Heggadadevana kote taluk. H.D Kote city is divided into 13 wards for which elections are held every ...
Taluks of
Mysuru Mysore (), officially Mysuru (), is a city in the southern part of the state of Karnataka, India. Mysore city is geographically located between 12° 18′ 26″ north latitude and 76° 38′ 59″ east longitude. It is located at an altitude of ...
in
Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
. 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 based out of 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 Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
between 2012 and 2014, and continues to hold academic positions in Cornell and other universities. His books 'Voices from the Grassroots' and 'I, the citizen' are compilation of narratives and reflections of a development expert and are now globally acclaimed. His book ''I, the citizen'' was released in 2015 by the Prime Minister's office.


Early life

Balu studied medicine in
Mysore Medical College Mysore Medical College & Research Institute (previously called Mysore Medical College), also known as Government Medical College, Mysore is one of the oldest medical colleges in India. It is located in the heart of Mysore city adjacent to the r ...
(SYVM). He was involved in volunteer and rural healthcare work during his medical college days. He founded the Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement in 1984 while he was studying medicine. The organisation was inspired by the works of
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...
and the values of
Ahimsa Ahimsa (, IAST: ''ahiṃsā'', ) is the ancient Indian principle of nonviolence which applies to all living beings. It is a key virtue in most Indian religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Hinduism.Bajpai, Shiva (2011). The History of India ...
, Satya, Seva and Tyaga.


Health and development

As part of SVYM, he set up and operated projects pertaining to preventive, promotive and curative health care, water and sanitation, behavioural change communication, reproductive and child health and HIV-AIDS for marginalized rural and indigenous tribal communities. Working with local tribal communities, he conceived and operated an Integrated Development model for their economic growth. Under his leadership, SVYM started schools and developed community based education programs that reached out more than 50,000 rural children in different parts of Karnataka State. He fought for the rights of the tribal people in the
Heggadadevana kote Heggadadevanakote or H.D.Kote is a town and a taluk headquarters in Mysore district in the Indian state of Karnataka. Kakana kote forest lies in Heggadadevana kote taluk. H.D Kote city is divided into 13 wards for which elections are held every ...
area by petitioning the National Human Rights Commission and ensured successful resolution of their demands. In 2008, he coordinated a community-led movement for good governance using the
Right to Information Act The Right to Information (RTI) is an act of the Parliament of India which sets out the rules and procedures regarding citizens' right to information. It replaced the former Freedom of Information Act, 2002. Under the provisions of RTI Act, an ...
. As part of this movement, he walked 350 km through 120 villages and trained and interacted with more than 200,000 people exhorting them to use the RTI act as a tool for development. In 2013, he conceived and led a campaign to deepen democracy and create awareness of electoral issues titled ‘Making Democracy Work’ in Mysore district.


Public policy

He was appointed as the special Investigator for the Karnataka
Lok Ayukta The Lokayukta (also Lok Ayukta) ( ''lokāyukta'', ''"civil commissioner"'') is the Indian Parliamentary Ombudsman, executed into power, through and for, each of the State Governments of India. It is brought into effect in a state, after pass ...
and was responsible for investigating complaints of mal-administration and corruption in the health and medical education sectors. In this position, he investigated issues related to corruption in the
Public Distribution System The Public Distribution System (PDS) is an Indian food security system that was established by the Government of India under the Ministry of Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution to distribute food and non-food items to India's poor a ...
between September 2006 to August 2011. He has also served on many committees and panels set up by Karnataka and Indian governments on issues related to tribal development, health, environment, child development and governance. He served as a member of the Technical Group of Social Stock Exchange (SSE) constituted by the
SEBI The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) is the regulatory body for securities and commodity market in India under the ownership of Ministry of Finance within the Government of India. It was established on 12 April 1988 as an executive ...
. In 2021, he was appointed to the Capacity Building Commission (CBC) of the Government of India as Member - Human Resources. CBC is a part of the "Mission Karmayogi" - National Programme for Civil Services Capacity Building (NPCSCB).


Other work

Balu conducts leadership workshops for private sector companies,
NGOs A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...
, government officials and students. He co-founded Vivekanda Institute for Leadership Development (VLEAD) in 2002, and Vivekananda Institute of Indian Studies (VIIS) in 2008, in Mysore. VLEAD offers training programmes in management, community development and leadership. VLEAD is also involved in various development research activities. VIIS facilitates the study, research, development and dissemination of Indian culture, spirituality, dance, music, art and philosophy, by offering customized courses to Indian and international students. In 2011, Balu founded a public policy research institute called Grassroots Research & Advocacy Movement (GRAAM). It is located in Mysore. In 2012, Dr. Balu was inducted to serve as the Frank H. T. Rhodes Professor at Cornell University, NY, USA, in recognition to his work in development, public policy and bridging gap between academic research and practice. His blog on development and poverty elimination continues to be one of the prime source for students at Cornell University to understand the process of social and economic development from a grassroots perspective. His lectures and views of global citizenship are well recognized at Cornell. In 2015, Balu released a book based on a compilation of narratives and reflections of a development activist. The book was crowd-funded and was released by an Indian Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office. Similar book launches were also held at Cornell University.


Awards and recognition

Balu was given the state youth award by the Government of Karnataka in 1988. He was honoured with the
Paul Harris Fellow Paul Percy Harris (April 19, 1868 – January 27, 1947) was a Chicago, Illinois, attorney. He founded the club that became the humanitarian organisation Rotary International in 1905. Personal life Harris was born in Racine, Wisconsin, to Ge ...
by Rotary International in recognition of his contributions towards social service in 2000. In 2003, the Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham awarded him the Jayendra Saraswathi Award for his lifetime contribution to social work. In 2011, the
Dainik Bhaskar ''Dainik Bhaskar ''is India's largest Hindi-language daily newspaper owned by the Dainik Bhaskar Group. According to Audit Bureau of Circulations, it is ranked 3rd in the world by circulation and is the largest newspaper in India by circula ...
group awarded him the India Pride awards for social development work. In January 2014, he received the Vivekananda Award for Human Excellence from the
Ramakrishna Mission Ramakrishna Mission (RKM) is a Hindu religious and spiritual organisation which forms the core of a worldwide spiritual movement known as the ''Ramakrishna Movement'' or the ''Vedanta Movement''. The mission is named after and inspired by th ...
. In May 2014, the Society for Indian Medical Anthropology awarded him the Swasthya Seva Ratna Award for outstanding medical service to indigenous tribal communities. In 2021, Dr. R Balu was recognised as a faculty member who contributed most significantly to the
Cornell Cornell University is a private statutory land-grant research university based in Ithaca, New York. It is a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1865 by Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, Cornell was founded with the intention to teach an ...
experience of the Merrill Presidential Scholars. His association with the
Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations The New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University (ILR) is an industrial relations school and one of the four New York State contract colleges at Cornell University, located in Ithaca, New York, United States. The ...
and the genesis of ILR's Global Service Learning Summer Program was covered as one of the stories of the 75th-anniversary celebrations of the school. In 2015, SVYM was also awarded th
India NGO of the Year Award
b
EdelGive Foundation


Publications

* ''Fighting Corruption: The Way Forward'' (Academic Foundation, 2013) * ''Swami Vivekananda: The Benefactor of the Masses'' (Ramkrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 2013) * "Swami Vivekananda: The Prophet of Service" in ''Swami Vivekananda: The Charm of His Personality and Message''. R Balasubramaniam (Balu), Swami Atmashradhananda (Sri Ramakrishna Math, 2014) * ''The Disease Called Corruption'' (Vismaya Publications, 2011) * ''Swami Vivekananda: As I See Him'' (Graam, 2014) * ''Hosa Kanasu (New Dreams)'' (Graam, 2014) * ''I, the Citizen'' (Graam, 2015) * ''Voices from the Grassroots'' (Graam, 2018) * ''Leadership Lessons for Daily Living'' (Graam, 2020)


See also

* Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement *
Swami Vivekananda Swami Vivekananda (; ; 12 January 1863 – 4 July 1902), born Narendranath Datta (), was an Indian Hindu monk, philosopher, author, religious teacher, and the chief disciple of the Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the intro ...


References


External links


"Measuring development" on the Hauser Centre Blog of Harvard UniversityBalu on "The Journey of Leadership" at a TEDx eventAn interview on Cornell University Channel being global citizensSwami Vivekananda Youth Movement's WebsiteGrassroots Research And Advocacy Movement's Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balasubramaniam, Ramaswami 1965 births Living people Harvard Kennedy School alumni Indian expatriates in the United States