Mr. Manjunath Bhandary is a visionary, entrepreneur, politician and an educationist, who with his dynamic leadership has brought about much desired social reforms through education to empower individuals to become the backbone of an enterprising, productive With an Engineering background, he chose to enhance his knowledge in the social and political arena, by studying M.A. and M.Phil in Political Science; shaping his outlook – a rare blend of being a technocrat and a social activist. He has the distinction of being awarded the Doctoral Degree – Ph.D. in Political Science.
Political Activities
A born leader, his skills were honed in the early student days of school and college and opened up vast avenues for him to be recognized as a leader and thereby counted among the youth as a youth icon on the global platform. He is deeply involved in Indian Politics for more than three and a half decades. At present, he is the member of the highest decision making body of the party; the All India Congress Committee. He contested the Parliament elections from Shimoga Parliamentary Constituency against former Chief Minister Mr. Yeddyurappa in the year 2014. As a young political leader, he has represented the party and the country and travelled extensively across the world, interacted with top political leaders like Presidents, Prime Ministers, Ministers, CEO’s and other Social & Business entrepreneurs.
Accolades
- His relentless service in the realm of youth and social empowerment saw fruition when he was awarded the prestigious Eisenhower Fellowship from the Eisenhower Foundation, Philadelphia, U.S.A. The foundation was headed by the American President George HW Bush.
- He was one of the architects of the ambitious rural welfare scheme called CSCs (Common Service Centers) of Govt. of India which resulted in the creation of 10 million jobs for rural youth. A Project named “RAJIV VIKAS KENDRA” had been proposed to Hon’ble Prime Minister Mr. Manmohan Singh to provide ONE CRORE job opportunities and later the same was approved by the Union Cabinet and implemented as Rural Common Service Centre (C S Cs) in 21st Sep 2006 and provided the budget for Rs. 5742 crores to establish one lack centers to provide the employment opportunities for the rural youths.
- A Proposal called INDIRA JYOTHI was proposed to Karnataka Government to provide 10 lakh GAS CONNECTION to people below the poverty level and the same was included in the 2004 Budget by Hon’ble Chief Minister Sri S M KRISHNA.
- He was invited by the American Council of Young Political Leaders – ACYPL to participate in Youth Exchange Programmes, during which time he was a witness to the terrorists attack on the Pentagon in 9/11.
- He attended the world HIV/AIDS conference at Barcelona as Indian delegate, along with former Prime Minister of India, Mr. I K Gujral, where he joined the prestigious group with the luminaries of the world such as Mr. Nelson Mandela, The President of U.S. Mr. Bill Clinton and other prominent dignitaries in 2002.
- He was the Leader of the Youth delegation of India to the world Youth Festival held at Algeria during the year 2004
- As a member of the Indian high level delegation, he visited Israel as a special delegate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He met the then Israeli Prime Minister, Mr. Ariel Sharon in 2005.
- He was also invited as a special Guest of Honour for the Indian Independence Day Parade held in New York in the year 2006, along with high profile dignitaries from both U.S and India.
- On the invitation of Youth Organizations, he visited Switzerland, Macedonia, Vietnam, Cuba, U.K, Algeria, Venezuela, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Sri Lanka, South Korea, Algeria, Turkey and many more countries.
Deeply moved by the appeals of world leaders at Barcelona, during the year 2002, about the need for education, he decided to dedicate his resources and expertise to the cause of upliftment of society and took a firm foot in that direction by establishing a charitable institution.
Bhandary Foundation, founded during the year 2002, in a short span of time has emerged as an enterprising entity in the field of education, social activities and sports. His novel thoughts added a new dimension to the world of education.
Sahyadri College of Engineering & Management at Mangalore established during the year 2007, it is developed as one of the premier institutions, affiliated to the Visvesvaraya Technological University having a Government Research center with Engineering and Post graduate degree programs. Nearly 4000 students are pursuing their education at the campus. The institution is totally committed with values, quality and integrity, and inspiring leadership.