No sign of new Ambedkar statue at airport

Nagpur: As the 55th Dhammachakra Pravartan Day, commemorating Babasaheb Ambedkar's adopting Buddhism, is observed on Thursday, the city airport named after the leader is still awaiting a new statue of of him. The earlier airport operator Airports Authority of India (AAI) and now Mihan India Ltd (MIL) have been proposing to replace the old one for almost three years now.
The airport authorities had assured to replace the statue as Ambedkar followers complained that the old one did not bear resemblance to him. They set many deadlines for it, like on Dhammchakra Pravartan Day in 2009, then on April 14, the birth anniversary of Dr Ambedkar, then again last year's Pravartan Day programme, before giving the latest inauguration date of October 6. Followers of Dr Ambedkar have requested Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, who will attend the main celebrations at Deekshabhoomi to take up the matter, and replace the statue.
The existing 16-foot statue was unveiled on April 14, 2008. A senior AAI official said, "the present statue was made by Amravati sculptor S R Satarkar at a cost of about Rs 16 lakh. It disappointed Ambedkar followers who said it did not resemble the man. Its hand was also not correctly positioned. The right hand forefinger of the statue was pointing downwards. The leader's statues across the country have the finger pointing upwards.
06/10/11 Sachin Dravekar/Economic Times

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Categories: airports Oct 2011