Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Dharmasthala on Oct 29

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will offer worship at the famous Lord Manjunatha temple at Dharmasthala in Karnataka on October 29. Modi will also attend a function organised by the Sri Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural development Project (SKDRDP) in the temple town in Dakshina Kannada district, official sources said on Wednesday. The Prime Minister would symbolically launch the distribution of RuPay Cards for Self-Help Group (SHG) members, enrolled for Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana (PMJDY) through SKDRDP, a non-governmental organisation, during the programme. SKDRDP Executive Director L H Manjunath said in a release that workers of the project had helped 12 lakh SHG members to open PMJDY accounts at their own premises. The prime minister would symbolically transfer RuPay cards to women who would then conduct banking transactions in the MICRO ATMs placed on the dais during the programme. SKDRDP is registered under the Trust Act and been working since 1982. It is promoted and nurtured by D Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari (hereditary administrator) of Dharmasthala Manjunatha Temple. With the initiatives of the SKDRDP, nearly 12 lakh poor people, 85 per cent of them women, were receiving banking services seamlessly, Manjunath said. During the programme, Dharmadhikari Veerendra Heggade’s new vision for the future titled ‘Preserve and Transfer Mother Earth to Future Generation’ would be launched, he added.