Ambedkar memorial work to be finished by 2022, says Ajit Pawar

Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday said the work on Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s memorial will be completed by 2022 once all requisite permissions are received for the project.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone of the memorial in October 2015. “We will try to complete the work by April 14, 2022...the government will ensure there is no shortage of funds for the project,” Mr. Pawar told reporters. April 14 is the birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar, the Dalit icon and architect of the Constitution.

Mr. Pawar, who was accompanied by another minister Nawab Malik, made the comments after visiting the Indu Mills compound to take stock of the memorial work. He said some permissions required for the project were not yet received. The deputy CM, however, did not specify which permissions were pending. “These permissions come under the purview of the State,” he said.

The previous BJP-led Devendra Fadnavis government had said the memorial work would be completed by 2020. The NCP and the Congress, which were then in opposition, had alleged that the memorial work was going on slowly.

Asked about unseasonal rain in parts of the State, Mr. Pawar said such a scenario is caused by global warming and the government always stands with farmers if they suffer crop losses.

“There has to be an inspection of the losses incurred by farmers due to the latest rain,” he said, adding the government will be speaking to district collectors on the farm loan waiver issue on Friday. Rains lashed some parts of Marathwada and Vidarbha regions on Thursday.