Citizen Journalism: Why not construct schools, hospitals instead of building statues in two Telugu states?

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Hyderabad: For a few decades now, different national and state-level political parties have been building statues of freedom fighters, and political and community leaders as per the demands, requests, and representations received from various groups. These statues remind us not only of their contributions to society but also are a means to teach future generations about these great leaders.

People building statues of leaders assume that it represents self-respect and the community’s pride. For such demands, even the governments are being compelled to give in to their demands.

Even governments are unable to deny their requests as the sentiments of the particular community may be hurt. When such multiple requests from various communities are received, the governments cannot be favorable to one and deny others.

In some cases, political parties promise to build statues of representative community leaders even when there are no requests from the respective section of the people. Instead of building statues using tax payer’s money, governments should convince the people to set up schools, and hospitals, or use that money for their social wellbeing. To date, we have not seen any such initiatives from any governments.

In this news article, we will be discussing the construction of the 125-feet statues of Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of the Indian Constitution, in Telangana and AP. We would also shed light on how the costs of constructing Dr. B.R. Ambedkar's statue in AP have increased due to delays and other reasons. We also bring forth how such decisions have led to new demands to construct statues of other prominent leaders.

In 2016, on the occasion of the 125th Ambedkar Jayanti, the two Telugu state governments decided to commemorate by initiating the construction of 125-foot Ambedkar statues.

The project related to the construction of the 125-feet Ambedkar statue is being carried out under the supervision of the Telangana Social Welfare Department and Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Ltd. These two prestigious projects are being executed by a single contractor, KPC Projects. KPC Projects, a renowned construction company, has provided details related to these projects on its website.

After receiving projects from AP, and Telangana governments, KPC Projects provided information about the cost estimation for the construction of the statues. They mentioned that the 125-feet Ambedkar statue in Telangana has an estimated cost of Rs 100.23 crores and the 125-feet statue of Ambedkar in AP has an estimated cost of 180.03 crores.

Ambedkar statues in Telangana and Andhra Pradesh are being constructed by the same contractor. The design consultant is also the same (Design Associates Noida ). The sculptor is also the same (Ram V Sutar) and the place where the parts are being constructed at the foundry in Manesar, Haryana is also the same.

In Telangana, the statue construction (125 feet statue + 50 feet statue pedestal stand) cost is estimated at Rs 146.50 crore. In Andhra Pradesh, according to the information available, the statue construction (125 feet statue + 81 feet statue pedestal stand) cost has exceeded the estimates, and it is reported to have crossed 268.46 crores

On April 14, 2016, as part of the 125th Ambedkar Jayanti, the Chief Minister of Telangana Chandrasekhar Rao laid the foundation stone and performed the Bhumi Puja ceremony for the construction of a 125 feet Ambedkar statue at NTR Gardens Tankbund in Hyderabad.

Chief Minister said that we are indebted to Baba Saheb Ambedkar as the Telangana was formed under Article 3 of the constitution.

For the construction of the statue in Telangana, tenders were floated in 2017, and despite the land issue, the COVID-19 pandemic, and other reasons the agreement was made with the contractor on June 3, 2021. The statue was unveiled on April 14th, 2023 by Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao as a commemoration of the Ambedkar Jayanti.

Information regarding the construction costs of the statue is not available in the Telangana portal except for two GOs. The G.O.RT.No. 211 - 11/04/2016, G.O.RT.No. 291 - 21/05/2016 provide details of the Telangana Statue Construction Committee. The cost of the statue construction in Telangana is reportedly allotted by Telangana Schedule Castes Special Development Fund (SCSDF)

According to the information reported in newspapers and social media, the estimated cost for the statue construction was 146.50 crore rupees.

On March 30, 2016, during the tenure of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu in Andhra Pradesh, discussions were held in the State Assembly regarding the 125th Ambedkar Jayanti celebrations. In the same discussion, it was decided to conduct various programs and events throughout the year to celebrate the occasion, including the construction of a 125-feet-tall Ambedkar statue spread across 15 acres of land in Amaravati.

Subsequently on April 6, 2023, during the Babu Jagjivanram Jayanti celebrations, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced plans to build the statue in his memory at Amaravati.

On April 14, 2017, Chief Minister Chandrababu laid the foundation stone and performed Bhumi Puja for the construction of a 125 feet Ambedkar statue at Inavolu Village, Tulluru Mandal, Amaravati, on the occasion of 126th Ambedkar Jayanti.

While the budget allocation for the statue was approved as per G.O.Rt.No. 28 on January 25, 2017, with a budget of 97.69 crores, the construction work did not progress as rapidly as anticipated.

On April 10, 2018, through G.O.RT.No. 132, a committee was formed regarding the construction of the Ambedkar statue project.

Soon after coming to power in 2019, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan decided to build 125 feet Ambedkar statue in Vijayawada's Swaraj Maidan, instead of Inavolu Village, Tulluru Mandal, Amaravati replacing the decision made by the previous Chief Minister Chandra Babu. The foundation stone for the construction of the statue was laid on July 8, 2020.

On July 7, 2020, a G.O.Rt.No. 244, was issued allotting Vijayawada Swaraj Maidan for the construction of the Ambedkar Statue and changing the ownership of land to the Social Welfare Department. The funds for the construction will be made through the 4225 - 01- MH – 800 – GH - 11 - SH (06) account number.

On August 12, 2020, G.O.Rt.No. 296, was issued which provides details of the Andhra Pradesh Statue Construction Committee.

On March 8, 2021, G.O.RT.No. 43, was issued to revise the budget allocating 268.46 crore rupees for the statue construction.

The budget for the construction of the statue was allocated from the SC-ST Sub plan funds in the previous (2018-2019) and present (2023-2024) governments.

Due to various reasons, including the Covid-19 pandemic, the progress of statue construction has faced delays. The unveiling of statue could not be unveiled on the planned date which is 14 April, 2023.

On September 13, 2022, and again on February 15, 2023, the AP Ministers' team visited Haryana Manesar, where the foundry is making the Ambedkar statue, and monitored the progress of the work. Currently, the parts of the statue are being assembled at Vijayawada Swaraj Maidan and are almost ready to be unveiled.

In Andhra Pradesh, a decision was made to beautify some buildings in Ambedkar Swaraj Maidan Smritivanam, Vijayawada where the Ambedkar statue is being placed, for which an additional 106 crore rupees, was allotted as mentioned by Merugu Nagarjuna, Minister of Social Welfare Department, Chairman of the Ambedkar Statue Construction Committee.

In the year 2017, the project commenced with an allocation of 97.69 crore rupees, and by the year 2021, it has increased from 268.46 crores to the current 380 crores. While the completion cost of the statue construction is achieved, the total expenditure is not yet known.

While this was going on AP MRPS demanded the installation of 125 feet-high statue of Babu Jagjivan Ram, a freedom fighter, who served as India's Deputy Prime Minister, and headed various ministries during his five-decade-long political career.

The AP MRPS leadership said that Ambedkar and Babu Jagjivan Ram are considered as two eyes for our Dalit and Tribal communities. The need for two statues to be installed simultaneously was expressed at this meeting, indicating that there is a need for both to be present side by side, and the government was urged to recognize this.

The SC Sub plan funds are intended for the upliftment and welfare of the Dalit community, if are being diverted for the construction of these statues how can reflect the self-respect of the Dalit community? Is this what Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Babu Jagjivan Ram or any other leaders wanted for the Dalits? We ask people or organisations to justify their demands to construct 125 feet height Babu Jagjivan Ram statues which can require hundreds of crores of rupees to be utilized from SC sub-plan funds.

Due to the global technological revolution of robotic process automation, artificial intelligence, machine learning, drone technology, robotics, and the Internet of Things (IoT), several new job opportunities are emerging, and even more are disappearing.

In such a scenario, we need to demand that governments set up skill development centers for B.Tech and M.Tech students of SC/ST communities to provide them with the necessary expertise and skills through collaboration with industries. These centers should focus on imparting knowledge and expertise in advanced technologies and coding skills to SC/ST students. Instead of spending such huge amounts on statues, we should demand governments take up developmental projects for SC/ST upliftment. We should be fighting for the development of our community rather than fighting for the construction of the statues.

Despite holding ITI and Polytechnic degrees, students from our community are facing numerous challenges in terms of government and private job opportunities. The future of our unemployed youth remains uncertain due to a lack of government support for setting up small businesses and providing employment opportunities. What benefits our community would get in setting up these statues when our people lack the basic educational and health facilities? We should think about how many deserving Dalits who do not have agricultural land can be given agricultural land with that amount of money spent on the statue. We should consider that every district can be built with schools and hospitals with the best standards with the budget of building a statute.

On this occasion, the request to the Chief Ministers of the two Telugu states, political parties, and opposition leaders is, for various political and social reasons, if you want to decide to build a 125 feet height statue of Babu Jagjivanram, or any other statues kindly use the estimated cost amount for the statue construction be spent on education, medical, employment welfare of the respective communities.

With the money spent on constructing statues, you can establish schools and hospitals in every district with the best standards. You can name the institution or the initiatives taken up for the welfare of the community. Be it Babu Jagjivan Ram or any other leader. This way we can honor and fulfill the dreams, and ideologies of our leaders for the betterment of our society.

(Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are the opinions of the author and do not represent the views of NewsMeter. NewsMeter is not responsible for the accuracy of the facts and contents of any links included in this article.)