Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar,  who is popularly known as Babasaheb Ambedkar, can rightly be called the father of the Indian Constitution.  Ambedkar was the fourteenth child of his dalit parents who were residents of Ratnagiri in the State of Maharashtra. Ambedkar’s surname was Ambavadekar, as his family was from the place Ambavade in Ratnagiri. His father was in the British army. It was his Brahmin teacher who changed his name to Ambedkar due to his liking for the pupil. It was also the surname of the teacher.

Since then he was known as Ambedkar. He was segregated as untouchable and not allowed to sit inside the classroom alongwith other students. Ambedkar was very intelligent. He was the only Dalit to be enrolled in Elphinstone High School. His suffering at the hands of upper caste students and society made him to  fight against untouchability and caste discrimination. In 1935 he was appointed as the principal of Government Law College, Mumbai.

Ambedkar strongly fought against the caste system in India and published a book, “Annihilation of caste” in which he strongly criticized the then existing discrimination in Indian society. B.R.Ambedkar was the first law minister of independent India. He wrote India’s first constitution, which envisages safety and security to Indians, freedom of religion, abolition of untouchability etc. The constitution was adopted on 26th November by the Constituent Assembly.

Ambedkar later accepted Buddhism along with his followers. He is known for his work as a lawyer, economist, politician and professor.  He breathed his last on 6th December 1955. Ambedkar was survived by his second wife Dr.Savita Ambedkar and son Yashwant Ambedkar. His birthday is celebrated as Ambedkar Jayanti and is a public holiday. He was honoured with the greatest civilian award Bharat Ratna posthumously in 1990. His fight for equality in the society, against social injustice, concerns for the dalit people etc should be lessons of inspiration and dedication to all the Indians.