{"id":72015,"date":"2026-01-25T10:12:02","date_gmt":"2026-01-25T10:12:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/2026\/01\/25\/karnatakas-anke-gowda-to-be-awarded-padma-shri-for-creating-indias-largest-free-access-library-india-news\/"},"modified":"2026-01-25T10:12:02","modified_gmt":"2026-01-25T10:12:02","slug":"karnatakas-anke-gowda-to-be-awarded-padma-shri-for-creating-indias-largest-free-access-library-india-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/2026\/01\/25\/karnatakas-anke-gowda-to-be-awarded-padma-shri-for-creating-indias-largest-free-access-library-india-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Karnataka&#8217;s Anke Gowda to be awarded Padma Shri for creating India&#8217;s largest free-access library | India News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-articlebody=\"1\">\n<div class=\"_s30J clearfix\">\n<div class=\"MwN2O\">\n<div class=\"vdo_embedd\">\n<div class=\"T22zO\">\n<section class=\"D3Wk1  clearfix id-r-component leadmedia undefined undefined  VtlfQ\" style=\"top:0px\">\n<div class=\"D3Wk1\" data-ua-type=\"1\" onclick=\"stpPgtnAndPrvntDefault(event)\">\n<div class=\"zPaFh\">\n<div class=\"wJnIp\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.toiimg.com\/thumb\/msid-127466124,imgsize-44004,width-400,resizemode-4\/anke-gowda.jpg\" alt=\"Karnataka's Anke Gowda to be awarded Padma Shri for creating India's largest free-access library\" title=\"Anke Gowda (Photo: Screengrab)\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"cj2hz img_cptn\"><span title=\"Anke Gowda (Photo: Screengrab)\">Anke Gowda (Photo: Screengrab)<\/span><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>NEW DELHI: Anke Gowda has been awarded the Padma Shri 2026 for his contribution to promoting literacy and preserving knowledge through Pustakamane, India\u2019s largest free-access library.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"2\"\/>Gowda, a former bus conductor from <a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/topic\/karnataka\" styleobj=\"[object Object]\" class=\"\" commonstate=\"[object Object]\" frmappuse=\"1\">Karnataka<\/a>, founded Pustakamane with the aim of making books accessible to people from remote and marginalised communities. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"6\"\/>Over the years, the initiative has grown into a vast repository of more than two million books in over 20 languages, including rare manuscripts and historical texts.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"8\"\/>An accompanying video released as part of the Padma Awards announcements traces Gowda\u2019s journey from working in public transport to building a nationwide model for free access to books and learning. <!-- -->The video highlights his efforts to take reading materials to underserved regions and to use education as a tool for social empowerment.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"13\"\/><span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"15\"\/>According to official announcements, Gowda\u2019s recognition aligns with the broader focus of the Padma Awards 2026 on honouring unsung heroes, particularly from Dalit, tribal and backward communities. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"17\"\/>This year\u2019s awards have placed emphasis on grassroots contributions in areas such as education, healthcare, sanitation and sustainability.<span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"20\"\/>The Padma Shri is India\u2019s fourth-highest civilian honour and is conferred for distinguished service across various fields. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"22\"\/>Gowda\u2019s work through Pustakamane has been cited as a significant effort in expanding access to knowledge and preserving literary heritage while promoting inclusive education. <span class=\"id-r-component br\" data-pos=\"24\"\/><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/timesofindia.indiatimes.com\/india\/karnatakas-anke-gowda-to-be-awarded-padma-shri-for-creating-indias-largest-free-access-library\/articleshow\/127465891.cms\">Source link <\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Anke Gowda (Photo: Screengrab) NEW DELHI: Anke Gowda has been awarded the Padma Shri 2026 for his contribution to promoting literacy and preserving knowledge through Pustakamane, India\u2019s largest free-access library.Gowda,&hellip;<\/p>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":72016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72015","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-india"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/anke-gowda.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sochtimes.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}