Ambedkar centre in 20 months

 Eulogising the contribution of Baba Saheb Ambedkar in uplifting the downtrodden, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday asked, “Where would I be if Amedkar had not been there?”

Laying the foundation for Dr Ambedkar International Centre, he said Ambedkar should be globally remembered along with Martin Luther King.

The Prime Minister lamented that the proposal for establishing the International Centre should take 20 years. The government has now decided to complete the project in 20 months. He attacked the Congress without naming the party and accused it of practising political untouchability against Ambedkar after his death. Both social and political untouchability were bad, he said.

Modi lauded Ambedkar’s contribution to women’s empowerment. In India women got the right to vote as soon as the country became independent. “In other countries, women had to wait for many years to get voting rights,” he said.

He also lauded Ambedkar’s contribution to changes in Hindu Marriage Act and other laws to ensure equal rights for women.The Prime Minister said there was not even a trace of malice in the Constitution of India, of which Baba Saheb was the architect, despite the intense social abuse that he had faced at every step of his life.

He said Baba Saheb created great Constitutional institutions such as the Election Commission and Finance Commission, which enjoyed the nation’s faith and confidence to this day.