Demand for a new Ambedkar statue heats up

NAGPUR: As the nation celebrated Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's birth anniversary on April 14, Saturday, the city airport named after the great leader continues its prolonged wait of almost four years for a new statue of him. Exactly on April 14, 2008, the present statue was unveiled by the earlier airport operator Airports Authority of India (AAI).However after Ambedkar followers complained that the old one did not bear resemblance to him, they proposed to replace the old one.Now a group of followers under the banner of Dr B R Ambedkar Pratima Niwaran Sangharsh Samiti demanded immediate replacement of the present statue with a new one. Mukesh Meshram, coordinator of the samiti, warned of a massive agitation at the airport, if authorities failed to comply immediately. Meshram said, "The airport authorities had set many deadlines to replace the statue, like on Dhammchakra Pravartan Day and then on April 14 but nothing has happened yet." Meshram said, "After a daylong dharna at the airport, we will handover a memorandum to district collector, airport authority officials etc. We also sent letter to civil aviation minister Ajit Singh in this regard." AAI's airport head AK Verma said, "The present 16-foot statue was made by Amravati sculptor SR Satarkar for Rs16 lakh. But it disappointed followers of Ambedkar as they said that it did not resemble the leader. Its hand was not correctly positioned and the right hand forefinger was pointing downwards." The AAI then appointed a committee that finalizes the design for a new statue. The new sculptor Pradnya Murti has now made a new statue which has an exact likeness to the leader. It is in final stages and by next month will be installed at airport, Verma informed. Almost 22 tonnes of bronze has been used for the new statue and AAI has already made advance payment to the sculptor. After final certification from Archeological Survey of India and other agencies, it will be installed, Verma added.