The 133rd birth anniversary of Dr. Ambedkar was celebrated with great enthusiasm on Apr.16, at the CSIR campus, jointly by CSIR-Structural Engineering Research Centre (CSIR-SERC) and CSIR Madras Complex (CMC). The function was presided over by Dr N.Anandavalli – Director of CSIR-SERC and Coordinating Director of CMC. K.Ashok Vardhan Shetty, IAS (Retd.), Former Vice Chancellor of Indian Maritime University, was the chief guest of the event.
Dr K.Sathish Kumar – Chief Scientist, gave the welcome address. He remembered the immense contributions of Dr. Ambedkar to Indian society and towards the drafting of the constitution of India. Dr N.Anandavalli, in her presidential address mentioned that Dr. Ambedkar is a symbol of equality.
The chief guest gave a passionate and inspiring speech on Dr. Ambedkar and his ideas. He said that Babasaheb dared to say what was right and wrong and strongly believed that the misrecognition of communities and identities creates tyranny and inequality, which leads to systemic injustice. He drew parallels between the lives of Dr. Ambedkar and Thomas Paine – one of the founding fathers of the USA and said that both men were real revolutionaries who fought against social evils and are more relevant even today.
Dr. C. Kumaravelu, Senior Principal Scientist, CSIR-CEERI, proposed vote of thanks.
