Published On : Thu, Mar 29th, 2018

‘Ramji’ to be part of Dr BR Ambedkar as middle name

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Lucknow:’Ramji’ will officially become the middle name of Dr BR Ambedkar in Uttar Pradesh. The state government on Wednesday passed an order asking all departments and high court benches in Lucknow and Allahabad to replace the use of ‘Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’ in documents and records with ‘Dr Bhimrao Ramji Aambedkar’, as signed by him on the pages of the Constitution.

The spelling of Ambedkar in English will remain unchanged, but the Hindi spelling will change so that his name is pronounced ‘Aambedkar’.

Dr Lalji Prasad Nirmal, director of Babasahib Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Mahasabha, said the campaign had been initiated by Governor Ram Naik in December 2017, who had written to the Prime Minister, the chief minister and also the mahasabha, expressing his concerns over the prevalent incorrect spelling of Ambedkar.

“The main point is the way the name should be pronounced. While its English spelling is correct, the spelling will have to change in Hindi, as will the pronunciation. Ramji was his father’s name. As per common practice in Maharashtra, father’s name is used as a middle name for sons,” he said.

Jitendra Kumar, principal secretary, general administration department, has issued the direction. Taking cognizance of the Eighth Schedule of the Constitution, where Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar’s name is written as Dr Bhimrao Ramji Aambedkar, the state government has “directed that all records, documents related to the government will now have his correct name”, the direction stated.