An orange vendor from Karnataka was awarded the Padma Shri, India’s fourth highest civilian award, by President Ram Nath Kovind on Monday. Hajba was given this honor for doing social work in the field of education. Harekala Hajabba, who sells oranges on the streets of Mangalore, Karnataka, received an award for building a school for underprivileged children in his village.
President Kovind honored Hajba with the Padma Shri award at the Durbar Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was also present during this. Harekala Hajba is an orange seller in the city of Mangalore, Karnataka. He is 65 years old. Hajba himself could not study as there was no school in his village, but his dedication towards education was such that now he has emerged as an example for the educated also.
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Hajba has built a school at Harekala-Newpadpu village, about 35 km from Mangalore city. Presently there are 175 underprivileged students of the village in this school. Hajba has been selling oranges at Mangalore Bus Depot since 1977 and never attended any school. His desire to revolutionize education in his village came to his mind in 1978 when a foreigner asked him the price of oranges.
The Padma awardee told ANI that I only know Kannada, not English or Hindi. So I was sad because I couldn’t help the foreigner. I thought of building a school in my village. Hajba’s dream of building a school came true only after two decades. He contacted former MLA late UT Farid, who had approved the construction in the year 2000.
Hajba started the school with 28 students and now till class 10th 175 students grow in the school built by him. The Padma awardee aims to build more schools and colleges in his village. He told that he has taken money from people and deposited prize money to buy land for schools and colleges. Hajba said that I have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to build a pre-university college (for class 11 and 12 students) in my village.
Two Padma award ceremonies for the years 2020 and 2021 were held on Monday morning and evening. Among the awards presented are seven Padma Vibhushan, 16 Padma Bhushan and 122 Padma Shri awards for the years 2020 and 2021. Padma awards are given in three categories – Padma Vibhushan, Padma Bhushan and Padma Shri which are announced annually on the eve of Republic Day. Padma Vibhushan for exceptional and distinguished service, Padma Bhushan for distinguished service of high order and Padma Shri for distinguished service in any field.
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