Mangaluru: Harekala Hajabba, a 64-year-old orange seller in Mangaluru, has been conferred with one of the most prestigious civilian Padma Shri Award – 2020 from the Central Government on Monday November 8. He received the award for his contributions to the field of education, under the category of social work.
President Ramanath Kovind presented the Padma Shri Award to Harekala Hajabba during a ceremony at the Darball Hall of national capital’s Rashtrapati Bhavan.
Fondly called as ‘Akshara Santa’ (letter-saint), he never had the opportunity to get formal education from school. After being unable to speak to some foreign tourists he encountered, Hajabba came up with the idea for the school. His village in Newpadapu, had no schools and he didn’t want to make children suffer the same fate as his. Hence, Harekala decided to change the face of his village in 2000 by saving a portion of his earnings from selling oranges and investing in the establishment of a school on an acre of land so that the children there can receive education.
Thus, he was able to construct a basic school in his village for needy children. In future, he dreams to establish a Pre-University College in his village.
His nephew accompanied with him to Delhi.
Other Padma Shri awardees 2020 from Karnataka
Tulasi Gowda, Social Work, M. P. Ganesh, Sports, Bangalore Gangadhar, Medicine, Bharat Goenka, Trade & Industry, K. V. Sampath Kumar, Literature & Education, Jayalakhshmi K. S., Literature & Education, Vijay Sankeshwar, Trade & Industry are the other Padma Shri Award winners from Karnataka.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah were among the dignitaries present.
District Administration plans to felicitate Hajabba once he is back from Delhi.
