Dr. PRABHAKAR B. KORE
Member of Parliament [Rajya Sabha]
Hon’ble Chancellor- KLE Academy of Higher Education and Research & Chairman- K. L. E. Society, Belgaum
- The first Chancellor of the K.L.E. Academy of Higher Education & Research, BelagaviDr.Prabhakar B. Kore, who has been the chairman of KLES for the past 35 years , has a very versatile personality and his diverse interests have seen him taking up varied roles in the fields of politics, education, agriculture, co-operative endeavour and community buildingmaking a mark on the State, National & International scenario through relentless effort, commitment and contributions to “Transforming Lives through Education & Healthcare”. Today under his able leadership KLE Society has 275 Institutions, in which 16000 dedicated & motivated faculties is serving and over 1,25,000 students have enrolled for various courses ranging from Kindergarten to Post-doctoral courses, in traditional, technical & medical educational institutions. The establishment of a 1200 bedded, free (charitable) teaching hospital in addition to the 1000 bedded state of the art super specialty hospital has been the mirror to reflect his great virtues of making KLE Society to be socially accountable and responsible. The hospital provides services through its various satellite centres at the neighbouring cities viz: Gokak, Jamkhandi, Gadhinglaj, Hubli and Ankola.
- A multi-faceted personalityhas his contribution in field of politics, education, agriculture, co-operative endeavour and community building.
His Political achievements include
- April 1990 Elected to Rajya Sabha (1990-96).
- Member, Committee on Railways.
- Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Defence.
- Member, Committee on Subordinate Legislation.
- 2001 – 2007 Member, Karnataka Legislative Council.
- June 2008 Elected to Rajya Sabha (2008-2014).
- 2010 onwards Member, Committee on Health and Family Welfare.
- Member, Consultative Committee for the Ministry of Human Resource Development.
- May 2011 onwards Member, Sub-committee-II to examine the functioning of CGHS of the Committee on Health and Family Welfare.
- Official Member of the Delegation of the State visit of Shri Pranab Mukherjee, Hon’ble President of India, to Belgium and Turkey from 2nd to 8th October, 2013.
- Worked on Parliamentary Committees on Education, Railways, Hindi Prasara, Planning, Agriculture and other welfare related aspects.
- June 2014 Elected to Rajya Sabha.
- Member of Parliamentary Committees on Skill Development & Entrepreneurship, Transport, Tourism & Culture, Food Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution.
- Member of Indian Parliamentarian Study visit to Indonesia.
- Member of the delegation accompanying Hon’ble Vice-President, Dr. Hamid Ansari on a visit to Hungary and Algeria.
Social Activist:
His concern for building social awareness has resulted in him working in different capacities, he has been:
- Responsible for the successful conduct of Karnataka Assembly Session, twice at Belagavi. First in September 2006 & for the second Time in January 2009.
- Worked as Chairman of the Reception Committee for the mega event “Vishwa Kannada Sammelana” held at Belagavi, March, 2011 which was inaugurated by Noted Film Star Aishwarya Rai, Industrial Tycoon Shri Narayan Murthy, Infosys, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Karnataka –Shri B.S. Yadiyurappa and attended by host of dignitaries from all walks of life and Kannadigas from across the world..
- Worked as President, Reception Committee, All India VeerashaivaMahasabha’s 21st Convention held at Belagavi, inaugurated by His Excellency, Shri Shankar Dayal Sharma, then Vice-President, India.
- Worked as Chairman, Reception Committee, 70th Kannada SahityaSammelana held at Belagavi, Karnataka in March 2003.
- Worked as Chairman, 5th Akhil Bharat SharanaSahityaParishat, Belagavi, 2003.
Awards and honour to his credits
- Honorary Doctorate conferred by the Karnataka University, Dharwad ,2008 for outstanding contribution in the field of education.
- Beneficiary of Karnataka Government ‘Suvarna Karnataka Rajyotsav Award – 2006’ for outstanding contribution in the field of education.
- Beneficiary of the Life Time Achievement Award for Education, Service and Commitment to Society awarded for the very first time by VeershaivaSamaj of North America in New York.
- Receiver of the ‘Outstanding Educationist’ of the year 2004 by ‘Giants International Group’ awarded by Film Personality Sri Amitabh Bachchan.
- Honoured on 21st December, 2007 by the Kannada Sangh Bahrain as “Kannada Vaibhav 2007”.
- Honoured as “Eminent Educationist” by KarnatakSangh Qatar, Dec, 2009.
- Felicitated at Long Island, New York by “NargisDutt Foundation” of North America for work in the field of Education and Health Care.
- “Life Time Achievement Award”, honour by “TiE – The Indus Entrepreneurs” – a Body of successful entrepreneurs, corporate executives and senior professionals of Silicon Valley, USA on 29.01.2013 at Hubballi.
- Honorary Doctorate conferred by the Rani Channamma University, Belagavi on 16.02.2013 for outstanding contributions to Education and Health Care.
- Honoured by Ms. Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary Health, USA for outstanding contribution in the field of medical education & research.
- Conferred the Life Time Achievement Award at the Sugar Convention held on 13th Oct., 2014 by ‘Bharatiya Sugar’ – a Bi-Monthly Journal devoted to Indian Sugar Industry, Pune.
- Honorary Doctorate in Education conferred by the UniversitiSains Malaysia on 17.11.2015 in recognition of his excellent and outstanding services and contributions.
- Conferred the prestigious “Life Time Achievement Award” on 28.07.2016 by The Sugar Technologists Association of India (STAI), an apex body of sugar professionals, recognized by the Govt. of India. This award is in recognition of the invaluable contributions in the development of the Sugar Industry in India.
- Awarded ‘Sirigannada Gourav-2016’ by BelagaviZillaSahityaPratishthan, Belagavi for outstanding services in the field of Education & Social service ,2017.
- Awarded “Sri MrityunjayaMahantPrashasti 2017’ for the outstanding services in Education, Social and Medical field on 28.1.2017.
- Awarded “Vishwachetan” Award at Yadur ,2017 by Shri ShriShri 1008 Dr.ChannasiddhramaPanditaradyaShivacharyaMahswamijiShrishail, Yadur.
As an educationist
- Chairman, K.L.E. Society, Belagavi since 1984 & instrumental in the growth of KLE from a group of 38 institutions in 1984 into an organization of global repute with 275 institutions having 1,25,000 students along with noteworthy contributions in the field of healthcare, research and community radio.
- Responsible for the conferment of the status of KLE University upon Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Institutes of Health Sciences of KLE in 2006.
- Facilitated the establishment of KrishiVigyan Kendra at Mattikopp near Belagavi in order to facilitate education, research and training of farmers to aid the modernization of agriculture in the region.
- Provided impetus to Research in Medicine, Pharmacy, Biotechnology & other domains by establishing a state-of-the-art Research centre at KLE University Campus.
- Established 2 Community Radio Stations, one each at Hubballi and Belagavi.
- Responsible for conferment of KLE Technological University status to B.V. Bhoomaraddi College of Engineering & Technology, Hubballi in 2015.
Contributions to healthcare and community welfare
- Instrumental in revolutionizing healthcare in the region of North Karnataka and beyond by establishing a state-of-the-art 2460 bed Hospital & Medical Research Centre which has evolved into a facility catering to the needs of about 70,000 inpatients and 9 Lakhs outpatients, annually.
- Established a 1200 bed Free Charitable Block at the hospital for community welfare.
- The establishment of JNMC Research Unit, a part of the global network initiative of the National Institute of Health, USA, which is contributing to path breaking research in Maternal and New Born Health Care. The Health Care and Health Sciences institutions of KLE have research and collaborative associations with renowned international organizations like WHO, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, etc.
- Facilitated extension of healthcare to rural areas by setting up Satellite Health Centres at – Hubballi, Gokak, Bailhongal, Nipani and Intensive Care Units (ICUs) at Hubballi, Gokak and Chikodi.
- Facilitated the establishment of a model Hospital and Research centre at Ankola – North Canara District.
- Architect of the KLE’s Ayurveda Hospital in an attempt to promote traditional medicine.
- Envisioned and initiated the establishment of an ultra-modern Cancer Hospital at Belagavi and a Medical College & Hospital at Hubballi.
- Built 500 bedded modern KLE Centenary Charitable Hospital for teaching of students of USM-KLE International Medical Programme at southern part of Belagavi. Facilitated a cumulative establishment of dedicated Heath Care capacity of over 4000 beds.
Facilitator of international collaboration in education and research:
Bridging the gap, he has facilitated projects and partnerships with
- University of Illinois, Chicago – USA, University of Michigan – USA.
- University of Missouri – USA, Sunderland University, UK.
- UniversitiSains Malaysia – USM – Malaysia.
- Copperbelt University at Republic of Zambia.
- Rhodes University, South Africa, Middlesex University, UK.
- University of Birmingham, Alabama – USA.
- Christina Care Health Services, Delaware – USA.
- Vanderbilt University, Nashville – USA.
- University of Colorado, Denver – USA.
- John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health – USA.
- Harvard School of Public Health, Boston – USA.
- University of California at San Francisco – USA.
Leading the co-operative movement
- Spearheaded the Co-operative Movement in the Border Region of Karnataka and Maharashtra with the running of Doodha Ganga Krishna Co-operative Sugar Factory, Chikodi, Karnataka, which has emerged as a Model Sugar Factory and has contributed immensely to the well-being of the farmers in the region.
- Worked as Director, All India Co-operative Sugar Factories Ltd., New Delhi.
- Established several co-operative banks and won the unshakable faith of both borrowers and depositors.
- Instrumental in the establishment of Belagavi District Rani ChannammaMahila Co-operative Bank Ltd., Belagavi, Karnataka.
Industrialist and enterpreuer
- As an entrepreneur – has set up Shivashakti Sugars Ltd. at Saundatti in Raibag Taluka of Belagavi District in Karnataka, using the most modern technology.
- Director, VRL Logistics, Hubballi – one of the leading Companies in Transportation & Travel.
- Founder Director, Rajkumar Forge Ltd., Pune.
