PANAJI
The State government will be constructing an ‘Ambedkar Bhavan’ replete with hostels for dalit students coming to the State for higher studies as also youth in Goa for employment.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the foundation stone for this Ambedkar Bhavan will be laid very soon at Porvorim. He was speaking at the event held at the Ambedkar garden at Patto-Panaji to mark the birth anniversary of the Dalit icon and architect of the Indian Constitution.
“Ambedkar Bhavan will be built at Porvorim. The foundation stone for the project will be laid soon. The State government has already bought the land at Porvorim Housing Board area,” Sawant said.
According to the chief minister the demand for ‘Ambedkar Bhavan’ has been lingering for a long time. He said the bhavan foundation stone will be laid after the tendering process is complete.
Sawant also announced during the course of his speech that Ambedkar Jayanti (April 14) will henceforth from next year be celebrated as a ‘State function’.
He said, until now the Ambedkar Jayanti was being commemorated by various organisations dedicated to the dalit icon in their private capacity but in future it will be done as a State-level programme.
The Ambedkar Bhavan will have a hostel for students from remote areas of Goa and also from outside the State, he said, adding that work too will commence after laying the foundation stone this year itself.
“The objective is to provide fair and equal opportunities to marginalised sections of society and to meet their common needs,” Sawant said, adding that government through the Social Welfare Department led by Minister Subhash Phaldesai will take all social welfare schemes to nooks and corners of the State.
