Once they are built and dedicated to the public, memorials hardly serve the purpose for which they come into being. In most cases, the purpose of building a memorial is squarely missing. However, an international memorial which Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis dedicated to the memory of Dr B R Ambedkar — a house at London’s Primrose Hill where the Dalit icon lived in 1921-22 while he was a student at the London School of Economics in 1921 and 1922 — isn’t expected to be a conventional one.

Every year, two Dalit students from India will study in any university based in London or Europe and arrangements would be made for their stay in the memorial building. The Maharashtra government has started a special scholarship programme for this. In a nutshell, the memorial is expected to be a source of inspiration for Ambedkar followers. The Maharashtra government bought a six-bedroom property following a demand from the Dalit community. Seeing a huge political potential in the deal (total expenses of approximately Rs 32 crore), the government expedited the process when the Dalits were equally insistent in having Ambedkar’s memorial at Mumbai’s Indu Mills. Modi came to Mumbai for a stone-laying ceremony at Indu Mills last month.