London/Nagpur: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday inaugurated a memorial dedicated to the architect of the India’s Constitution, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar, here. The memorial is a house located on 10 King Henry’s Road in North London, where Dr. Ambedkar lived as a student while pursuing his doctoral studies at the London School of Economics between 1921 and 1922.
The house was purchased by the Maharashtra Government for around Rs 32 crore (3.1-million pounds) in September this year.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and Republican Party of India (RPI) leader Ramdas Athawale were also present on the occasion.
The Prime Minister also paid floral tributes to the bust of Dr. B R Ambedkar at the memorial.
The plaque on the entrance of the memorial reads “Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar , Indian Crusader for Social Justice lived here 1921-1922”.
The six-room property is now a public museum and a library. The memorial includes an exhibition and the chair used by B.R. Ambedkar during his stay. Modi paid floral tribute at the statue of Ambedkar. It was announced that every year two Dalit students from India would study in any university based in London or Europe and arrangements would be made for their stay in the building.
The Prime Minister’s Office in its tweets posted some photographs of Modi accompanied by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while inaugurating the memorial.
Ambedkar, who died in 1956 aged 65, was posthumously conferred the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian award, in 1990.
