India, Jan. 25 -- Anke Gowda, who once checked bus tickets and later worked at a sugar factory, spent nearly 80% of his earnings on books, quietly building a library of over 20 lakh volumes in more than 20 Indian and foreign languages. That lifelong passion was recognised on Sunday when the Union government named him a Padma Shri awardee for 2026, honouring his work as the founder of one of India's largest free-access libraries.

Gowda is one of three Padma Shri recipients from Karnataka this year, along with Dr. Suresh Hanagavadi, a physician who transformed haemophilia care in the state, and Dr. S. G. Sushilamma, a social worker whose initiatives for women and children span nearly five decades.

Born to a farming family in Mandya distri...