Visakhapatnam: Ambedkar's contribution to society remembered

Visakhapatnam: Dr B.R. Ambedkar’s immense contributions to society were remembered through celebrations held in Vizag on the occasion of his 126th birth anniversary. PSUs, government offices, schools and voluntary organisations conducted meetings to mark the occasion. The RINL, the corporate entity of Visakhapatnam Steel Plant, joined the nat-ion by celebrating Ambedkar Jayanti at Ukkunagaram. P. Madhusudan, the CMD of RINL, paid rich tribute to Bharat Ratna Dr B.R. Ambedkar, and garlanded his statue. Speaking on the occasion, Mr Madhusudan recalled the services and contribution of Dr Ambedkar in framing the Indian Constitution and in the upliftment of women. He described him as a champion of the downtrodden. He said that Dr Ambedkar was a symbol of hard work, love and humanity; a great political thinker, reformer and prolific writer.

P.C. Mohapatra, the director of projects, D.N. Rao, the director of operations, P. Raychaudhury, the commercial director, K.C. Das, the director of personnel, representatives of the SC&ST Welfare Association, and union leaders paid floral tributes to mark the occasion at Ambedkar Park in Ukkunagaram. Members of the Officers & Employees Welfare Associa-tion garlanded the statue of Dr Ambedkar at the circle at Convent Junction in Port Area. VPT chairman M.T. Krishna Babu said Dr Ambedkar was a jurist, a social reformer and a politician. He was the Father of the Indian Constitution, and an eminent politician. He spoke about Dr Ambe-dkar’s remarkable efforts to eradicate social evils such as untouchability and caste restrictions. He said that throughout his life, Dr Ambedkar fought for the rights of dalits, and for other socially backward classes. The chairman said that VPT was taking all the measures to live up to the expectations of Dr Ambedkar.

The staff, employees of VPT, and members of the VPT SC/ST Officers and Employees Association participated in the celebrations. At the Dredging Corporation of India, celebrations began with the lighting of a lamp and a rich floral tributes to Dr Ambedkar made by M.S. Rao, the operations and technical director, V.V.S. Sreenivas, the chief vigilance officer, and N.S. Neelakanta Rao, the president of the DCI SC/ST Employees Welfare Associa-tion. M.S. Rao, V.V.S. Sreenivas, N.S. Nilakanta Rao, Dr P.K. Sethi, the joint general manager, and C. Leelavati, the vice president, addressed employees on the occasion.

They highlighted the immense contributions made by Dr Ambedkar towards upliftment of the weaker sections of the society, the empowerment of women, and the principles of justice and equality. The speakers urged all employees to rededicate themselves to the ideals of social justice and empowerment envisioned by Dr Ambedkar. Special prizes were distributed to children from the AP Social Welfare Girls Hostels in Tagarapuvalasa and Anandapuram for essay writing and elocution based on the life and teachings of Bharat Ratna Babasaheb Ambedkar. The function was attended by all senior officers and employees of DCIL.