Efforts on to acquire Ambedkar's home in london

India may acquire the rupees 40-crore residential property where Dr B R Ambedkar lived during the 1920s and convert it into a memorial to the crusader for social justice, a social organsation today said.

The initiative to acquire the 2,050 sq ft property on King Henry's Road here, currently on sale, was taken by the Federation of Ambedkarite and Buddhist Organisations (FABO), UK which sought the assistance of the Maharashtra Government for a grant of 4 million pounds (40 crore rupees).

"I am delighted that the Government of Maharashtra has supported the FABO, UK's initiative to purchase the house where Dr Ambedkar lodged while he was studying at the london School of Economics," said Santosh Dass, President of FABO,UK.

"We are still awaiting official confirmation," she said.  

Total cost includes the current asking price for the property as advertised at 3.1 million pounds, an estimated 2,17,000 pounds as stamp duty (payable at 7 per cent on the eventual purchase price), legal costs, house insurance costs and necessary renovations to the property.

"The proposed memorial would help the Indian students particularly from the poorer sections coming to the UK for higher studies to stay. It would be a lasting memorial to the great visionary and dalit leader for years to come," said Arun Kumar, General Secretary of FABO, UK.

Earlier, Maharashtra state Water Conservation Minister Nitin Raut had asked the state government to coordinate with the Centre to acquire the residential property.

"The Ministry of Social Justice has given its written consent for the project. The Chief Minister is also very positive on the issue of acquiring Ambedkar's home in london," Raut, a prominent Dalit leader from Nagpur, had said.