London: Maharashtra government has given its nod to pay Rs 35 crores to acquire a property in London, where Dr B R Ambedkar lived during his stay, and convert it into a memorial of the architect of India’s Constitution.
“The Maharashtra Government has reached a deal to purchase the London house where Dr Ambedkar stayed during his studies at the London School of Economics in 1921-22,” Santosh Dass, president of Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO), UK said in a statement on Sunday.
She said the FABO, UK stepped in to purchase the 2,050 square feet-property on King Henry’s Road and convert it into an Ambedkar memorial. The residence will be open to public from April 14, coinciding with Ambedkar’s 124th birth anniversary.
“I am delighted that the Government of Maharashtra has begun the legal process to secure the former residence of the chief architect of the Constitution of India, Dr Ambedkar, in North London,” Dass said.
This follows FABO, UK’s direct proposal in September, 2014. Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde conveyed the “good news” to the organisation on Friday during his meeting with Dass here.
Tawde spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis following which the decision was taken to buy the house that was on the block for Rs 35 crore. “After the meeting, I took the Minister to visit 10, King Henry’s Road, Dr Ambedkar’s home, with its blue plaque outside commemorating him living there while he was studying in the London School of Economics.
“I am thrilled by Mr Tawade’s public statements that the house will be turned into a memorial. We look forward to working with the government of Maharashtra and the High Commission of India in London to make sure we achieve this,” Dass said.
For untold generations of people to come, the property will become a place of pilgrimage for people around the globe inspired by the fractious history of civil rights, the potential successes of social activism and Ambedkar’s legacy, she added.