The Maharashtra government may be spending over Rs 500 crore on a grand memorial for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar at Dadar in Mumbai, but the state machinery's apathy may lead to rare drafts of his books, handwritten works, letters, documents and photographs being destroyed
The government-funded Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Source Material Publication Committee, which is the custodian of this material and uses it to publish works by the icon of the oppressed classes, has been shifted from Nariman Point to a cubbyhole in Ballard Estate due to the office being acquired for the construction of a Metro station. The new space was decided by the government and the committee apparently did not have any say in it.
However, a lack of facilities such as proper storage space, security and even ventilation—the office does not have a single window—may lead to these aged books and papers being destroyed due to fungus and pest infestations. The lack of facilities in the office, which will also house committees for the works of Mahatma Jotiba Phule and Rajarshi Shahu Maharaj, to store this rare, archival material may also expose it to theft.
"These papers and documents are rare and antiquated and need to handled with care," said Hari Narke, member-secretary of the Mahatma Phule committee, adding that they had books, handwritten drafts, photographs, notes and rare first editions of Ambedkar's works. Many of these works are from his personal collection.
Set up in 1978, the committee has published 22 volumes of Ambedkar's writings, speeches and correspondence and two of source materials. Though more are in the offing, Narke, a former member-secretary of the Ambedkar committee, admitted that lack of space to access these papers would affect the process. Narke said they had to move from a 1,000 sq ft office to one which was just around 325 sq ft.
A visit to the office reveals that books, files and trunks containing papers and documents have been arranged randomly to overcome an acute space crunch.
"These are rare documents which are falling apart due to age. Lack of ventilation may lead to them being affected by fungus... any damage will be irreversible," lamented a source.
Writer-activist Avinash Dolas, who is the member-secretary of the Ambedkar committee, noted that lack of adequate infrastructure like cupboards could affect these documents.
The Ambedkar committee was originally housed in Mantralaya, but was shifted to the office of the Phule committee in the nearby barracks in 1998. However, the structure was torn down for the Vidhan Bhawan underground Metro Railway station on the Colaba- Bandra- SEEPZ route.
Narke charged that the office was shifted to the new premises on April 23 after just a 24-hour notice.
When contacted, education minister Vinod Tawade said they would digitise the source material to prevent damage. "People may be complaining because they have less space to sit. We will digitise and source Babasaheb's documents. Not even a word from it will be lost," he added.
Needed researchers
While the state government has grandiose plans for Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar's memorial and statue at Indu Mills in Dadar, it is unable to ensure that his original documents, photographs and source material are treated with the kind of care they deserve. The source material publication committees also need more researchers and trained staff to ensure that the works and thoughts of icons like Ambedkar, Mahatma Phule and Shahu Maharaj are taken to the masses.
