Pune: The birth anniversary of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar was celebrated indoors in the city this year, owing to the coronavirus lockdown. Every year, the day is commemorated with grand celebrations including rallies, public speeches and gatherings in the city.
The Ambedkarites Students Organisation (ASO), every year, celebrates Dr Ambedkar birth anniversary at Fergusson College library.
“Every year, we spend the day reading continuously for 14 hours at the library. But this year, due to the lockdown, looking at the condition of the poor households, we decided to raise funds and donate kits of essential items to several families,” Pankaj Sathe of ASO.
The Centre of Trade Unions (CITU) had also given instructions to all its members to celebrate Dr Ambedkar birth anniversary at home with family members by reading the Preamble to the Constitution of India.
Students from the Department of History at the Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) celebrated Dr Ambedkar anniversary by organising a video conference entitled ‘Annihilation of Caste: A Discussion’. The English and Marathi copies of the book by Dr Ambedkar were circulated among the students well before the programme. Based on their reading, students initiated a discussion around the contribution of Ambedkar in bringing about a modern Indian Society based on the principles of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity.
The Pali Department of the University also celebrated the day at home by conducting an essay writing competition.
While the Ambedkar Chowk in Pimpri is usually flooded with people celebrating on this day along with illuminating lights, this year chowk was decorated by illuminating the lights while people celebrated it at home.
Several organisations, like Jaaglya, Prabuddha Bharat, through their Facebook pages, had appealed to the people to celebrate at home and had also conducted several sessions on various topics on Facebook live.
Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Madhyawarti Utsav Samiti in Solapur that has one of the grandest celebrations of the day in the state had also appealed to all its affiliated organisations to celebrate strictly inside their homes.
