No one is great by Caste but by Deeds: Activities of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar (Babasaheb)

Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (Dr. B.R. Ambedkar) popularly known as Babasaheb was a great personality, an erudite scholar, and a great asset of undivided India. He through his activities has proved that caste cannot be an indicator of greatness but through deeds, one can be great. Some years ago, when I visited his birthplace in a seminar (as a resource person) at Mhow, Madhya Pradesh, I was joyous and felt lucky to visit such a holy place. Born on April 14, 1891, Dr. Ambedkar has shown the path of Dalits on how to lead a decent life. Interestingly, his date of birth has coincided (sometimes one-day variation) with the new year celebration in Assam, West Bengal including Bangladesh, Punjab, Kerala, Odisha, Tamil Nadu, and many other places.
Hailing from a socially backward class, he has shown everyone, particularly to the lower echelons of society mainly Dalits how to survive with dignity. It may be mentioned that Dalit communities are found not only in India but also in Bangladesh, even among the Muslims of Bangladesh.
Anyway, in his childhood, he never felt the brunt of caste politics or ‘untouchability syndrome’ as he was born in Mhow, Indore present Madhya Pradesh in an army cantonment. In his words “……my father was employed in the Army. He held the rank of Subedar at that time. Since we lived in the cantonment, we had little to do with the world outside the military area. I had no experience of untouchability”. But after his father’s retirement situation totally changed. His father shifted to Satara and he felt the brunt of untouchability as even no barber was prepared to cut his hair as a sequel Dr. Ambedkar’s elder sister used to cut his hair. He had to face many social issues in those days because of caste as he belonged to the Mahar caste.
Being an eminent economist and endowed with foresight, Dr. Ambedkar contributed substantially to the formulation of the post-war economic development plan in general and water resources and electric-power development in particular. A significant contribution of Babasaheb was the establishment of two technical organizations known as the Central Water Commission (CWC) and the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). He was instrumental in establishing the Bhakra-Nangal dam.
He was also a visionary and understood the importance of agriculture and farming for the sustainable development of the farmers. He advocated for collective farming as well as an uninterrupted supply of water and electricity to the farmers. Further, Balasaheb is known as the ‘Chief Architect of the Constitution of India’ and called as ‘Father of the Indian Constitution’. Because of his initiative, the Constitution of India has directed, “no child below the age of 14 years shall be employed to work in any factory, mine or engaged in any hazardous employment”.
With the end of December month, a year as per the English calendar is complete and New Year starts but with the death of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar on December 6, 1956, a new era of our Constitution started. And we the Indians are lucky to have a sound constitution and that is why Indians did not face the brunt of army rule albeit Pakistanis have many times experienced the same although both got independence almost at the same time.
Dr. Ambedkar was in a favour of birth control and was of the opinion that with a huge population, India would face severe problems on many fronts. By quoting him, it may be mentioned that “the educated class has, by this time, fully realized the necessity of birth control”. I offer my Pronam to this great soul on the occasion of his birthday on April 14, 2023.