Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba from Karnataka gets SIR notice

Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba, known for facilitating affordable education in Karnataka’s coastal Dakshina Kannada district, received a notice on Monday (Sep 7) from the Election Commission of India (ECI) as part of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. According to multiple reports, his name was registered as 'Hajabba' during the 2002 voter roll revision. However, his current documents—such as the ration card, Aadhaar, passport, and voter ID—show his name as 'Harekala Hajabba.' He joins a long list of famous people whose names were removed from SIR lists in India, including actor Prakash Raj, economist Amartya Sen, cricketer Rahul Dravid, actor Dev (Dipak Adhikari) and poet Joy Goswami.

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The Election Commission served the notice on through a booth-level officer to ascertain whether it is the same voter. He has reportedly being directed to submit verification documents on September 11. However, the Times of India reported that when the incident was flagged, assistant electoral registration officer (AERO) directed the tahsildar and village assistant to visit 70-year-old man’s house and made the necessary corrections and spare him a trip to the AERO’s office. Around 43.81 lakh voters have gotten notices during the “disposal of claims and objections phase” of SIR, before the publication of final electoral rolls on October 27. The SIR started in Karnataka on June 30.

Ashwini, village assistant of Harekala gram panchayat, “This spelling mismatch led to the voter being placed in the logical discrepancy category. Booth-level officers had clear instructions to resolve discrepancies involving VIPs immediately, without issuing notices. However, due to an oversight, a notice was served on the Padma Shri awardee,” Ashwini said, expressing regret. Hajabba confirmed that officials visited his house and collected the documents.

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Who is Harekala Hajabba?

Hajabba was a orange seller in Mangaluru city. He helped build a primary school in his native village of Harekala in 2000 by saving money earned from selling oranges. In 2020, he was awarded the Padma Shri, India's fourth-highest civilian award. Born into a Muslim family of very modest financial means, he dropped out of school at an early age in order to earn money and contribute towards family expenses. But, he vowed to make a school in his village Newpadapu. The school is known as Hajabba School and he is popularly called 'Akshara Santa' (letter-saint).

The Rashtrapati Bhawan post about him states, “President Kovind presents Padma Shri to Shri Harekala Hajabba for Social Work. An orange vendor in Mangalore, Karnataka, he saved money from his vendor business to build a school in his village.” He walked barefoot onto the red carpet in his traditional white dhoti and shirt to collect the honour.