The 130th birth anniversary celebrations of Dr. B R Ambedkar were organised in a grand manner at Thummalapalli Kshetrayya Kala Kshetram here on Wednesday.
Addressing the gathering, Special Chief Secretary to the Government (GPM & AR) K. Praveen Kumar said that Dr. Ambedkar was a great leader and a visionary who was instrumental in bringing about reforms for the underprivileged and the working class.
“Dr. Ambedkar brought down the working time for workers in the country from 14 hours a day to eight hours. He was instrumental in enacting the Employees State Insurance (ESI) which helps workers with medical care,” he said.
“He drafted the Indian Constitution in an elaborate manner and left no scope for ambiguity. The powers and role of the Election Commission were dealt with in detail. India witnessed many elections during the last seven decades but there were never any controversies. Unlike in India, we have seen what happened in the United States recently during the change of power,” he said.
Principal Secretary (Social Welfare) K. Sunitha, who presided over the meeting, said that Dr. Ambedkar stressed on the need to believe in the strength of oneself rather than luck. AP Study Circles would be reopened as the government has found that the private institutions were not giving priority to the SCs and STs, she said.
Former Chief Secretary of Tripura U. Venkateswarlu, Tribal Welfare Secretary Kantilal Dande, Director Social Welfare I. Samuel Anand Kumar, Krishna district in-charge Collector K Madhavi Latha and Joint Collector K Mohan Kumar attended the programme.
