New Delhi:
India on Saturday welcomed the UK’s decision of granting planning permission for a museum dedicated to B R Ambedkar that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015.
The UK government has accepted India’s appeal against the closure of the Ambedkar House in north London and said the memorial to the architect of the Indian Constitution would remain open to visitors.
UK Communities Secretary Robert Jenrick confirmed that he had granted retrospective planning permission on Thursday for 10 King Henry’s Road in Camden, where Ambedkar lived in 1921-22 during his student days at the London School of Economics, to function as a museum.
“I was pleased to grant planning permission for a museum in London to Dr Ambedkar – one of the founding fathers of modern #India and an important figure to many British-Indian,” Jenrick tweeted. “I wish the museum every success.”
Tagging his tweet, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Raveesh Kumar welcomed the UK’s decision.
“We welcome the decision by UK Secretary @RobertJenrick to grant planning permission for a museum dedicated to Dr Ambedkar,” the MEA spokesperson tweeted. “The museum was inaugurated by PM @narendramodi in 2015 as a tribute to Dr Ambedkar’s unparalleled contribution in the making of our nation.”
The house, 10 King Henry’s Road in Camden, was bought by the Maharashtra government for around 3.1-million pounds and refurbished to transform into a memorial-cum-museum, which now houses photographs and belongings of Ambedkar, with the walls adorned with his famous quotations.
It had been an important stop on Narendra Modi’s first visit to the UK as prime minister in November 2015, but it ran into trouble after it emerged that the right clearances for the creation of a museum on the site had not been sought.
