PM set for puja on ‘bhoomi’ yet to become state’s
12.5 acres of Indu Mill land for Ambedkar memorial has not been transferred to state govt by National Textiles Corporation
Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to perform the Bhoomi Poojan ceremony of the proposed Ambedkar memorial at Dadar on October 11, the land on which the memorial is to be built has not yet been transferred to the state government.
The haste for the ground-breaking ceremony is apparently to lure voters in the ensuing Bihar assembly elections and also to showcase it as an achievement of the BJP government in Maharashtra where the Devendra Fadnavis government will complete one year on October 31.
The 12.5 acres of land of Indu Mills belongs to the National Textiles Corporation (NTC) which is yet to formally complete the handover process.
The Principal Secretary, Urban Development, Nitin Kareer, told Free Press Journal that though the land had not been formally transferred, the state government will go ahead with the ground-breaking ceremony at the hands of the prime minister.
“The NTC has written a letter to us on October 5, stating that we can go ahead with the foundation stone-laying ceremony,” he said, pointing out that the transfer of land and negotiations over granting TDR to the NTC would continue. He said that after the bhoomi pujan ceremony, the procedure may take around three months.
The NTC is to be compensated with Transfer of Developmental Rights (TDR) by the state. The quantum of the TDR and location is yet to be fixed between the state government and the NTC. The memorial is estimated to cost around Rs 400 crore.
The construction covering 2.5 lakh sq ft of land would include Ambedkar’s statue, a stupa, a museum showcasing his life and a library. The manner in which the groundbreaking ceremony is being hastened even before the land acquisition, has raised eyebrows in political circles.
Incidentally, in a bid to project its pro-Dalit image, the BJP government has recently acquired a house rented by Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar in London during his student days in 1921-22. It is being developed as a memorial and a facility for overseas students.