New Delhi, Nov 8: Harekala Hajabba, the real life hero of coastal Karnataka, today formally received the Padma Shri Award 2020.
President Ramanath Kovind conferred the prestigious honour at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah among others.
Hajabba, the orange seller who saved money to build a school in his village, was declared the recipient of one of the highest civilian honours of India on January 25, 2020. Hajabba received a letter intimating that the certificate signed by the President will be presented to him in March, but the ceremony was delayed due to the pandemic.
“I have been in touch with the office of the Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel to make necessary arrangements for my travel to New Delhi for the ceremony. I will preserve this prestigious honour bestowed on me in my house along with other awards, mementos and certificates that I received from more than 500 organisations,” he said.
Hajabba, 65, an illiterate fruit vendor who is popularly known as ‘Akshara Santa’ (Saint of Letters), was successful in building a school to educate children of his village in New Padpu, Harekala, located about 35 km from Mangaluru city. Deeply pained that he could not study as his village did not have a school, he took it up as a challenge and his journey towards building a school in Harekala began in 1995.
He left no stone unturned to get land for the school and for approval from the education department. His dream turned into reality when Dakshina Kannada zilla panchayat sanctioned a school in 1999.
Initially, Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Lower Primary School popular as ‘Hajabba avara Shale’ (Hajabba’s school) was functioning in a mosque. Later, Hajabba built classrooms for the school on 40 cents of land sanctioned by the district administration.
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I really appreciate him. He is the real hero of the KARNATAKA
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