Mysuru: PWD and District in-Charge Minister Dr. H.C. Mahadevappa unveiled the 9ft. tall bronze statue of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar in front of University of Mysore (UoM) Library at Manasagangothri campus here yesterday.

The Minister also inaugurated D. Devaraj Urs Bhavan at B.N. Bahadur Institute of Management Sciences (BIMS) campus in Manasagangothri later.

Speaking after unveiling Dr. Ambedkar’s statue at a stage programme organised at Senate Bhavan in the campus, the Minister said that it is not possible for India to turn into a developed country without the Constitution and added that it is the responsibility of those who follow the ideologies of Basavanna, Buddha and Ambedkar      to protect it.

The Minister said that communalists and fundamentalists were weakening the Constitution by trying to create disharmony in the society and added that if the Constitution is not protected it would affect the Backward Classes and the common man in future. Dr. Mahadevappa said that the Indian Constitution was under threat as anti-social elements were attempting to tamper it.

Calling people not to allow communalism and fundamentalism into Universities and educational institutions, Dr. Mahadevappa said that strengthening democracy and development of the country must commence from Universities.

Statue of Basavanna

Earlier, University of Mysore Acting VC Prof. Dayananda Mane said that there were plans to install the statue of Basavanna at the Kannada Department premises in Manasagangothri and added that it will be in addition to the existing statues of Dr. Ambedkar and Buddha.

Speaking about Ambedkar’s statue, the VC said that it was a 9ft. tall life size statue which holds significance for being the first statue of Dr. Ambedkar to be installed in State Universities and second after Columbia University and added that the cost of the statue was Rs.40 lakh out of which Rs. 20 lakh was borne by the UoM and the rest was raised from donors.

Scholars urge Minister to rename Devaraj Urs Bhavan as Research Centre

Meanwhile, a group of scholars urged District Minister to rename D. Devaraj Urs Bhavan as D. Devaraj Urs Research and Extension Centre. The appeal comes in the wake of research centres being named after Dr. B.R. Ambedkar and Dr. Babu Jagjivan Ram.

MP R. Dhruvanarayan, MLC R. Dharmasena, former Mayor Purushotham, KPCC Member Dr. Chandrakanth, Registrar D. Bharati, Registrar (Evaluation) Prof. Somashekar and Engineers Shankar and Kishore Chandra were present.