The story of a struggle to have a memorial after Ambedkar in Chennai

The story of a struggle to have a memorial after Ambedkar in Chennai Premium During then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi’s stint as CM of the State, he got an arts and science college in Vyasarpadi in north Chennai named after Ambedkar Published - December 24, 2025 06:30 am IST T. Ramakrishnan READ LATER SEE ALL Remove Then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Karunanidhi unveiling the statue of Dr. Ambedkar and inaugurating the District Collector's office at North Arcot Ambedkar District on July 01, 1990. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives Since 1990, there has been a renewed interest in B.R. Ambedkar, regarded widely as the architect of the Constitution of India. On his 99th birth anniversary in April that year, the country’s highest award— the title of Bharat Ratna— was conferred on him posthumously and his widow, Savita Ambedkar received it from President R. Venkataraman. Prime Minister V.P. Singh had declared 1990 as the Year of Social Justice. In Tamil Nadu, the then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, in May, announced in the Assembly that the Madras Law College would be named after Ambedkar. During his previous spell, he got an arts and science college in Vyasarpadi in north Chennai named after the architect of the Constitution. Then Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi, laying a brick to mark the beginning of Dr. Ambedkar Memorial construction in Chennai on Wednesday, as the Mylapore MLA, Ramajayam, the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Minister Samayanallur Selvarasu, and the Adi Dravidar and Tribal Welfare Department Secretary, R. Rathinasami, look on. | Photo Credit: The Hindu Archives In no time, the country, particularly northern States, was rocked by students’ agitation against the decision of the Singh’s government to earmark 27% of jobs in the Central government and public sector undertakings for the socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs or Other Backward Classes - OBCs), which triggered a spell of apprehension among Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes that their quota scheme - 15% for SCs and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes in the Union government and similar arrangements in States - would be adversely hit. This factor had also provided one more reason for the underprivileged people to remember Ambedkar vigorously. When the Supreme Court had cleared the 27% quota for OBCs, it also stipulated that the quantum of reservation should not exceed 50%. This had, in turn, kindled fears among the SC/STs in Tamil Nadu whether their share— 18% for SCs and 1% for STs— would be cut proportionately so as to keep the quota for the BCs/Most Backward Classes/SC/STs at 50% from existing 69%. However, the AIADMK government, led by Jayalalithaa, had led a successful campaign for the retention of the 69% quota system for which it got widespread support from most of the political parties. It was under the circumstances that Jayalalithaa, on April 14, 1993, laid the foundation stone for a ₹1-crore Dr. Ambedkar centenary memorial hall opposite the lyappan temple on Greenways Road in Raja Annamalai Puram. To be located on a five-acre...

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