As the country remembers Dalit icon Baba Saheb Ambedkar on his birth
anniversary on Saturday, the decision of the Madhya Pradesh government
to change technical specifications for the construction of his memorial
at his birth place in Mhow town, near Indore, has sparked a controversy.
The architect of the memorial, ED Nimgade in a letter to Chief Minister
Shivraj Singh Chouhan on February 8, protested the 'unilateral decision'
of Babasaheb Ambedkar Smarak Nirman Samiti chaired by state Forest and
Transport Minister Himmat Kothari to alter the technical specifications
of the project on the plea of bringing down project's cost.
In the letter, copy of which is available with PTI, Nimgade said, "Due
to this unilateral, arbitrary and illegal decision of the Samiti, the
original quality, aesthetics and unique features of this project are
completely lost and this may give rise to a public outcry."
He said, "The decision was taken by Samiti in my absence and also that
of the custodian of the memorial, Babasaheb Ambedkar Memorial Society.
However, PWD executive engineer KC Jain, in-charge of the project denied
that Nimgade's approval was not taken before changing the technical
specifications. His consent is there on papers, he contended.
cont'd....
http://www.hindustantimes.com/StoryPage/StoryPage.aspx?id=64da8186-6d70-4ab8-a8d7-3a4b40e1b210&;