Delhi govt to organise plays on Ambedkar

The musical play will be based on Ambedkar’s life, his thoughts, his ideas and ideology and will have the most famous artists and experts take part in it, the government said in a statement, adding that they are preparing a 100-feet wide stage and setting up a production of international standards.

The Delhi government will organise plays on the life of Dr BR Ambedkar, the chief architect of the Indian Constitution, next month “to spread his teachings”, Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Monday.

Kejriwal said the Delhi government will organise a play on the life of BR Ambedkar.  (HT Photo)

Making the announcement in a digital press briefing on Mahaparinirvan Divas, which marks Ambedkar’s death anniversary, the CM said, “To spread his teachings and to let everyone know about his inspiring life, the Delhi government will organise a mega play from January 5 at the Jawaharlal Nehru stadium. The play will be shown about 50 times, each will be free for the public. The play will be of international standards. So, I request all of you to watch it once it starts next month.”

“We are celebrating the 75th year of Independence. I want every child and adult to know about the life of Ambedkar ji. At that time he was the first Indian to have a doctorate, and he had not one, but two doctorate degrees, both from abroad. He was also the chairman of the seven member drafting committee of the Constitution of independent India. He also contributed to eradicating the social scourge of untouchability in India,” Kejriwal said.

The musical play will be based on Ambedkar’s life, his thoughts, his ideas and ideology and will have the most famous artists and experts take part in it, the government said in a statement, adding that they are preparing a 100-feet wide stage and setting up a production of international standards. The entry will be free to all so that each and every child can watch the show and seek inspiration from his life.

“If I say that Babasaheb was the most educated person in the history of India, I don’t think I will be making any erroneous statement. I have never heard or read about anyone who had devoted themselves to education more than he did... He did one doctorate from America, one from England. And that too when he came from a very underprivileged background. When he was studying abroad, there was a time when his grant was put on hold so he had to drop everything and come back. He could only go back after somehow making monetary arrangements for his education. It is so tough for one to get admission in universities abroad even today and then there was Babasaheb who managed to get two doctorates in his time and became the first Indian to do so. He was very fond of reading and in fact even knew nine languages,” Kejriwal said.

He had a personal library named Rajgir that boasted 50,000 books and was perhaps the largest in the whole world, the chief minister added.

The Delhi government is already running the Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana to extend quality education to the underprivileged, the statement read.

“The Kejriwal government has taken a resolve to uplift the downtrodden sections of the society. In that direction, it has made sure that all students from the SC/ST/OBC/EWS society get support for taking up higher education and pursuing professional careers under the Jai Bhim Mukhyamantri Pratibha Vikas Yojana. Under this scheme, meritorious students belonging to SC/ST/OBC and EWS categories receive free coaching from private institutes for competitive exams such as JEE, NEET, CLAT, civil services, banking, railways, SSC among others. If a kid from a family earning less than ₹8 lakh per annum is talented, they no longer have to face the hurdles of poverty. The Kejriwal government provides them free coaching. The Kejriwal government also provides a stipend of ₹2,500 to the beneficiary students so that they do not face problems in their commute,” the government statement said.