If taken as challenge, Ambedkar memorial will be completed in 2 years: Sharad Pawar
:Days after deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar declared that the Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar memorial will be completed in two years, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Tuesday said that if the construction is taken up as a “challenge”, it is possible to complete the project in the stipulated time.
The veteran politician made the statement after visiting the Indu Mills compound in Dadar, the site of the proposed memorial. “If everyone related to the project takes it as a challenge and if all the requisite permissions are in place, then completing the memorial in two years is possible,” Pawar said, after reviewing the ongoing work of the ₹1,090 crore project, along with minority affairs minister Nawab Malik, and social justice minister Dhananjay Munde. He said around 75% of the work for the memorial is pending and once completed, it will become an important attraction in the state. “It will be an important attraction for tourists, especially for those coming from countries with a large section of Buddhist population, such as Sri Lanka, Thailand, China and other South East Asian countries,” he said.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief and Ambedkar’s grandson, Prakash Ambedkar, had suggested the state government to utilise the funds sanctioned for the Ambedkar memorial for the Wadia Hospitals, which was undergoing financial crisis. In response, Pawar said chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has already resolved the issue in a meeting some days ago.