Ambedkar memorial function postponed again

The proposed function to lay the foundation stone for the grand Ambedkar Memorial here on October 4 has been postponed again, official sources said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi was scheduled to perform the ceremony at Dadar during his upcoming daylong visit to Mumbai on October 4, along with the foundation stone ceremonies for two Mumbai Metro railway lines.

However, the Ambedkar Memorial function has been deferred though no reasons are cited officially.

The third postponement has evoked protest from the state Congress which demanded to know "what was more important than this function" for the PM.

"The foundation stone for a world-class memorial for Dr. B.R. Ambedkar has been postponed due to the tight schedule of the PM. Even earlier, the PM was reportedly expected to perform the foundation stone laying ceremony on April 14 which was postponed due to his foreign tour," said state Congress spokesperson Sachin Sawant.

He said in a statement that Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam had carried out a symbolic ground-breaking ceremony at the Indu Mills Complex where the memorial is due to come up.

However, Sawant said it was regrettable that again the October 4 date has been postponed.

"Whether it is the ceremony for the Ambedkar Memorial or finalizing the purchase of the house where Ambedkar lived in London, the government continues to be lax. It was only after public anger that the government finally completed the London house purchase recently," he said.

The Maharashtra government has planned a grand memorial to Ambedkar, the chief architect of Indian Constitution, on 12.5 acres of prime land at Dadar.

The landmark memorial will be constructed on a plot of land near the existing Chaityabhoomi where Ambedkar was cremated, on the shores of Dadar Chowpatty, on December 7, 1956, a day after his death in Delhi.