Ambedkar’s contribution includes power and water resources, not just Constitution: Sharad Pawar

Nationalist Congress Party president Sharad Pawar on Saturday, 21 October, said B R Ambedkar’s contribution to the country is not restricted just to the Constitution but also taking crucial and futuristic decisions over water resources and power.

Speaking at an event to commemorate the 100 years of his book ‘The Problem of the Rupee: Its Origin and Its Solution’, Pawar said Ambedkar deserves credit for preserving parliamentary democracy in the country.

Ambedkar was a member of the Viceroy’s Executive Council from 1942 to 1946, which was responsible for labour, water and power.

The NCP chief said, “The current generation is only aware of his contribution (as the chairman of the drafting committee) towards the Constitution.”.

The four-time Maharashtra chief minister said Ambedkar also took crucial decisions on how to use water and build its infrastructure.

He said the key decision to construct the Bhakra Nangal dam, built over the Sutlej River, and the Damodar Valley Corporation, a public sector power generator operating in West Bengal and Jharkhand, was taken during Ambedkar’s tenure.

The Bhakra Nangal dam played a crucial role in the irrigation sector for Punjab and Haryana, spurring agricultural growth in the two states, said the former Union agriculture minister.

“While taking these decisions (on building dams), he also realised how important it was to generate power from these dams,” Pawar said.

The NCP leader also credited Ambedkar for laying the foundation of the state electricity boards to enable power generation at the state level and founding the Transmission Corporation of India to take electricity to states that did not produce power.

“People are still reaping the benefits of the decisions that Ambedkar took,” Pawar added.