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PM Modi likely to inaugurate Ambedkar memorial in London
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate a memorial of Dr BR Ambedkar in the north London house acquired by the government of Maharashtra this week.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate a memorial of Dr BR Ambedkar in the north London house acquired by the government of Maharashtra this week, during his visit to Britain in November.
State minister for social justice Rajkumar Badole, who is in London in connection with the purchase of the house where Ambedkar lived in the 1920s while studying at the London School of Economics, told HT that efforts were on to schedule the memorial's inauguration during Modi's bilateral visit.
Modi is expected to be accompanied during the visit by Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Phadnavis, who played a key role in expediting the purchase of the property.
Badole told newspersons at India House that the main use of the property would be as a memorial, and other purposes - such as temporary accommodation for visiting scholars - will be decided later.
The property will be renovated after taking possession shortly, he said, and added that the local council's permission would be sought to use the property as a memorial.
MP Singh, a senior official in the Indian high commission who led the process of purchasing the property, said its base price was 3.1 million pounds, but there were also additional charges in the form of taxes and fees.
Badole thanked a 'large number' of organisations in Britain and India for their inputs in the process of acquiring the property to be now managed by the high commission on behalf of the Maharashtra government.
