Dalit upsurge prompts BJP to harness Jagjivan Ram's legacy

The Bharatiya Janata Party may have been out to appropriate Dalit icon BR Ambedkar, the recent Dalit upsurge in Maharashtra has prompted the saffron party to go the extra mile. The government is now eyeing to harness Babu Jagjivan Ram's legacy to its pantheon.

Among other positions, Ram served as the deputy prime minister and was the father of Meira Kumar, senior Congress leader and the first woman speaker of Lok Sabha. Kumar had lost to Ram Nath Kovind in the Presidential election, being the Congress candidate for the position.

Social justice and empowerment minister Thawar Chand Gehlot has written to Minister for Human Resource Development (MHRD) Prakash Javadekar to include five places associated with the life of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar, designated as 'holy places of pilgrimage' by the Narendra Modi-led BJP government and called the 'Panchteerth' (five places of pilgrimage) in the curriculum of the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE).

"We are exploring the possibility of including study material regarding Babu Jagjivan Ram and his life in the school curriculum, in books such as NCERT, and the curriculum in states. We have requested the same to state governments," said Gehlot.

According to the decisions taken in the governing/ general body meeting of the Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation, held on 18th January, it has been decided that a Babu Jagjivan Ram Memorial Lecture would be organised each year.

Additionally, a library too would be dedicated to Babu Jagjivan Ram National Foundation, here in Delhi, apart from instituting 'Babu Jagjivan Ram Scheme' for financial assistance for organizing memorial events in connection with the celebration of birth or death anniversaries of great saints and other eminent personalities.

A feature film on the life of Babu Jagjivan Ram too would be made, for which a token budgetary provision of Rs 2 crore has been granted.