Who is Padma Shri Awardee Harekala Hajabba From Karnataka

Padma Shri: Harekala Hajabba, a 66-year-old orange seller from Mangaluru, Karnataka, was inspired by a fortuitous encounter with a foreigner and a desire to make a difference to establish a school in his hamlet Harekala-Newpadpu with his daily profits of Rs.150.

Hajabba, who has been selling oranges at the Mangaluru bus station since 1977, was awarded the Padma Shri Award by India's President on Monday in New Delhi for his achievements.

Hajabba revealed the idea for the school occurred to him in 1978 after a foreigner inquired about the price of an orange.

"I only know Kannada, not English or Hindi. As I could not communicate with the foreigner, I felt bad and decided to build a school in the village," the Padma Awardee said to the media,

His dream, however, took two decades to fulfil.

Former MLA and late UT Fareed sought the Akshara Santa (Letter Saint), a title he earned through his humanitarian work, to authorise the school's creation in the year 2000.

Although he remained ignorant due to circumstances, the institution that was formed solely as a consequence of his efforts currently educates 175 impoverished kids from his neighbourhood up to class 10.

Hajabba now wants to put the prize money he's amassed over the years from a variety of competitions toward the development of new schools in his community.

When asked what his next target was, the 66-year-old man said: "My target is to build more schools and colleges in my village. Many people have donated money, and I have accumulated prize money for purchasing the land for the construction of schools and colleges."

"I have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to construct a pre-university college (for Class 11 and 12 students) in my village," he added.

He also expressed gratitude to President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, district in-charge minister Kota Srinivasa Poojary, and MLA UT Khadar for recognising his charitable efforts.

The names of the Padma Awardees were released by the central government in January 2020. However, because of COVID-19 rules, the prize was only given out on Monday.