Vijayawada: All schools in the state will soon have a lesson on the life of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar.
Making the announcement during question hour in the AP Legislative Council here on Saturday, minister for social welfare Merugu Nagarjuna said that he will take up proposal to the notice of the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy as several legislators expressed their intent to honour the Dalit icon in a befitting manner. The intent was to help the young generation to know about him and his ideology to uplift the suppressed sections of the society.
The minister informed the council that though the previous Telugu Desam government intended to set up a 125 ft statue of Ambedkar at Amaravati, it failed to do so. It is the YSRC government that has decided to install a bronze statue of Ambedkar at Swaraj maidan in the city with an outlay of Rs 268.46 crore. This will be coming over 19 acres of land site and an 80 ft pedestal will hold the 125 ft tall statue. Works are progressing at a brisk pace so that the statue can be unveiled on April 14 commemorating the birth anniversary of the architect of the Indian constitution.
YSRC member Dokka Manikya Vara Prasad lauded the initiative and said Ambedkar was a symbol of social justice. Pointing out that NCERT had already brought a book on Dr Ambedkar in English, he felt that there was a need to translate the book into Telugu. He urged the state government to provide financial incentives to dalits going in for inter-caste marriages.
Several members, including M. Arun Kumar and Lakshmana Rao urged the government to restore Ambedkar Study Circles in addition to setting up a library at the venue where the statue of Ambedkar was coming up.
YSRC member Pandula Ravindra Babu described Dr. Ambedkar as the world’s greatest economist and expressed concern that was only being projected as a champion of dalit rights in the country.
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