For Shri Veerendra Heggade, one of the prime areas of concern has always been the youth and their future. Realizing that rural youth were falling into despondency due to lack of employment opportunities, he is in his own inimitable way, set to work. Educated rural youth have always tended to migrate to urban cities, as the rural areas are primarily agrarian and do not offer them too many job opportunities.

In 1982, Shri Heggade started the first Rural Development and Self-Employment Training Institute (RUDSETI) at Ujire. This programme, with the active support of Syndicate Bank and Canara Bank chalked out an innovative approach to help the rural youth stand on their own feet. RUDSETI identifies opportunity avenues, trains participants in developing the desired skills and assists them in their entrepreneurial activity. A highly practical concept, this programme caters to the needs of both boys and girls. RUDSETI has developed a highly successful training module that is today followed in 21 locations around the country. Beginning at Ujire, there are now RUDSETI programs in 12 states and over 1,50,000 trainees have benefited from it.

The most astonishing fact is that over 66% of the trainees who attended and took maximum interest have all successfully established entrepreneurial ventures, a spectacular and realistic result that no organization on similar grounds has been able to achieve so far. Many of the trainees aspiring to establish new business ventures also get bank finance and guidance from the RUDSETI. The secret of RUDSETI is the intense amount of planning and research that is undertaken to identify opportunities for the young generation with some hands on experience.

In the pre-training phase of the programme, candidates are selected on a scientific assessment of their abilities. The selected candidates are then given lectures on motivation, conviction and entrepreneurial competence to stir in them the confidence that they can reach their destination. These sessions help on pushing the students a little harder than their actual ability so that they are in a position to comprehend and overcome any obstacle they might face in the future. Apart from this, the training provides technical skill and know how in the field that they have chosen. Later the training familiarizes them with the steps needed to set up their own business.

RUDSETI received the FICCI award for rural development for the year 1998-99 in recognition of its role in helping rural areas develop. RUDSETI trained women entrepreneurs consistently win the national award from IMM-NABARD.

Some of the typical Entrepreneurship Development Programmes (EDP) for first generation entrepreneurs are: Agricultural EDPs, Product EDPs and Process EDPs.

RUDSETIs are currently located at: