Arvind Kumar, Judge of the Kalaburagi bench of the Karnataka High Court, said that Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, was the epitome of human rights.
Mr. Arvind Kumar was speaking after inaugurating a national seminar on human rights organised by Dr. B.R. Ambedkar College of Arts, Commerce and PG Centre here on Wednesday.
He said that the contributions of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in eradicating social evils such as the caste system, inequality and gender discrimination and to uphold human rights were remarkable. He likened the concept of dharma to the teachings of Buddha and advocated that one has to follow the teachings of the latter to protect the fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution. Mr. Arvind Kumar called upon the students to play a major role in educating poor children. “Effective implementation of the Right to Education Act would help in achieving 100 per cent school enrolment,” he said. He also regretted that over 2 lakh children die of hunger every day in the world and asked people not to waste food. M.S. Talawar, dean of the Education Department, Bangalore University, expressed his dismay over poor conditions of health institutions in the country.
Around 30 lakh children die before attaining the age of one due to infectious diseases and malnutrition, he added. Mr. Talawar said that higher education institutions have failed to impart quality education. According to a recent report, as many as 1,950 institutions were accredited by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) in 2010, he said and added that only 22 per cent of these institutions were accredited with ‘A’ grade and 15 per cent of them secured ‘D’ grade.
