Meet The Orange Vendor Awarded A Padma Shri For Contributions In Rural Education
KS Special/Karnataka: 66-year-old orange vendor Harekala Hajabba, himself having no schooling, received a Padma Shri award for bringing a revolution in rural education by constructing a school in a Mangaluru village which now has 175 students studying there.
Harekala Hajabba, an orange vendor from Karnataka's Mangaluru, received Padma Shri Award, India's second-highest civilian award, from the President of India in the national capital on Monday.
The 66-year-old orange vendor received this award for bringing a revolution in rural education by constructing a school in Harekala-Newpadpu village in Mangaluru. The school, currently, has 175 underprivileged students from the village.
Mr Hajabba, who sells oranges at Mangaluru bus depot since 1977, is illiterate and has never been to school.The desire to bring revolution in education in his village came to his mind in 1978 when a foreigner asked him the cost of orange.
