Orange seller Harekala Hajabba was given a warm welcome on his arrival in Mangaluru on November 9 after receiving the Padma Shri award from President Ram Nath Kovind at Rashtrapati Bhavan in Delhi on November 8.
Mangaluru Tahsildar T. G. Guruprasad received him at Mangaluru International Airport on behalf of Dakshina Kannada district administration on his arrival from Delhi via Bengaluru.
The district administration arranged an official car to take him to the office of the Deputy Commissioner where he was felicitated by Deputy Commissioner K. V. Rajendra.
Mr. Hajabba thanked the media for sharing his story and the Deputy Commissioner for taking care of the arrangements for his journey from his doorstep.
He reiterated his long-standing demand for a government pre-university college in his Newpadpu village in Harekala village on the outskirts of Mangaluru.
The Padma Shri awardee placed his demand before Union Minister for Finance and Corporate Affairs Nirmala Sitharaman when he met her after receiving the award. He asked her for a college as she has been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Karnataka.
Mr. Hajabba, in his 60s, had been eking out a living by selling oranges at Central Market area in Mangaluru. One day, a foreigner asked him the price of a kilogram of oranges. He could not answer as he did not know English. He did not want the children of Harekala village to face a similar situation, and decided to open a primary school.
The school began in a madrasa on June 17, 2000. Later, it became a government school. The high school section was opened in 2007.
Mr. Hajabba built the school with grants from the government, donations from companies and individuals. Initially, he had contributed ₹5,000, which was his savings from selling oranges. Now, the school has classes from standard 1 to 10.
His achievement became a subject of study in undergraduate courses in Mangaluru, Davangere and Kuvempu universities. In addition, Kannada-medium schools in Kerala taught about him to students of class 8 and 10. He has won numerous awards and uses the award money for improving facilities in the school.
