New Delhi: On April 14 every year, we celebrate Ambedkar Jayanti or Bhim Jayanti to remember Bhimrao Ambedkar, popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar. Ambedkar, the principal author of the Indian Constitution, was born on this day in 1891 in a Mahar family in Mhow town of Madhya Pradesh. He also served as the law minister of India (1947–51). Later, he inspired the Dalit movement and campaigned against social discrimination.
In more than 25 states and union territories of India, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti is a public holiday, these include Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Ladakh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, etc.
On the occasion, we bring you some facts about Ambedkar that you probably didn’t know about:
He was a Dalit icon who spoke against the inequality and discrimination faced by the members of his community.
He was the first Union Minister of Law and Justice at the time of the Nehru government and he was also the key architect of the constitution of India.
- Ambedkar converted to Buddhism in 1956 along with his wife before his death.
- He resigned as the Union Law Minister when his Hindu Code Bill failed to pass in Parliament.
- The father of Ambedkar served in the Indian army and his ancestor had also worked with the East India company.
- In 1936, when he returned to India during the Independence movement, he wrote his magnum opus “Annihilation of caste” a fiery critique of the caste system.
- He also played a critical role in forming the Reserve Bank of India.
- On March 31, 1990, he was posthumously conferred with India's highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna.
- His personal library “Rajgirh” has more than 50,000 books and it was said to be the world’s largest private library.
- He gave the right to maternity leave.