Narendra Modi to lay foundation stone of Ambedkar Centre on Jan. 31

NEW DELHI, 02/12/2014: Prme Minister Narendra Modi releasing a book titled ' Mission Overseas' Prime Minister's Successful Foreign Visits during the BJP Parliamentary Party Meeting at the Parliament Library in New Delhi on December 02, 2014. Photo: R. V. Moorthy

Twenty-five years after a high-level committee recommended construction of an Ambedkar International Centre in the national capital, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is expected to lay the foundation stone for such a hub on January 31.

“The foundation stone for Ambedkar International Centre in the heart of Lutyen’s Delhi on Janpath will be laid by the Prime Minister this month end,” a government source said.

The proposed centre will be constructed on land allotted by the previous government in 2004 for setting up of Ambedkar National Public Library, the source added.

The recommendation to establish the international centre was made way back in 1990 by the national committee, set up to celebrate the birth centenary of B.R. Ambedkar in a befitting manner and chaired by then Prime Minister V.P. Singh.

It had suggested that the international centre should comprise a national public library and other infrastructure.

The committee had also recommended setting up of Ambedkar Foundation, which was later established in 1992 as an autonomous body under the aegis of the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.

Ambedkar was the principal architect of the Constitution and worked towards the goal of justice for people considered untouchables in the country.