Harekala Hajabba, a 68-year-old fruit seller from Mangalore in Karnataka, received the Padma Shri from President Ram Nath Kovind for building a primary school with his earnings of Rs 150 per day.
The 66-year-old received this award for bringing a revolution in rural education by constructing the school in Harekala-Newpadpu village in Mangaluru which has 175 underprivileged students at present with classes up to the 10th standard. Hajabba, who sells oranges at Mangaluru bus depot since 1977, is illiterate and has never been to school.
His motive to build the school?
Many years ago, when a foreign tourist asked him the price of an orange in English, he did not understand what had been said and felt embarrassed. He had not had the privilege of any kind of formal education. “That day I vowed to make a school,” he said.
According to a report, Harekala Hajabba’s village Newpadapu did not have a school for many years and all the village children were deprived of their right to education. Then, in 2000, Harekala Hajabba invested all his life savings and started a school on one acre of land.
Now, Hajabba wants to invest the prize money that he has received after winning various awards in these many years in the construction of more schools in his village.
When asked what his next target is, 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.
In January 2020, it was announced that Harekala Hajabba would receive the Padma Shri award. However, the ceremony could not be held earlier due to the pandemic.
PADMA AWARDS 2021
On Monday, President Ram Nath Kovind conferred Padma Awards at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. The 2021 list of Padma Awards includes seven Padma Vibhushan, 10 Padma Bhushan and 102 Padma Shri Awards, of which 29 awardees are women and one awardee is a transgender person.
The Padma Awards have been presented in various fields, such as art, social work, public affairs, science and engineering, trade and industry, medicine, literature and education, sports, civil service and so on.
