Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar - Renowned Social Reformer; Lesser known ECONOMIST

Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar is known as the Messiah of the Depressed Classes in India because of his pivotal work for the upliftment of the depressed section of the society, but Dr. Ambedkar means more than just that for India.

 

Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar's career is spread over a vast canvas and Economics is one of its major aspects. He had pursued his PhD in Economics from Columbia University. He was the first Indian conferred with 'Doctorate in Science' from London School of Economics. Dr. Ambedkar as an Economist presented the guidelines for establishment of RBI in 1935. His book, 'The Problem of Rupee: Its Origin and Solution' was the maiden attempt to record the entire history of the Indian rupee. The book was his first ever well researched book that argued and proved how British policies were making Indians poor.

 

Dr. Ambedkar also advocated demonetization every 10 years. He believed, "If any country has to eliminate black money and fake currency, then after every 10 years the country's currency should be demonetized." As per the reports of the Indian Express, "Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar was among the first political leaders and unsung economists of the country who had recommended that the Indian currency should be changed every 10 years to tackle the problems of hoarding to black money to inflation. But, he had underlined the need for adopting a flawless methodology to ensure the currency change serves the real objective to nab those dodging the system and help the common man."

 

His role in ending the Khoti system is pivotal. In one of his speeches at Chiplun, Ratnagiri, Dr. Ambedkar said, "I had now come to believe that the purpose of my life was to struggle for the welfare of the downtrodden. I came from a poor family and had lived among the poor in an Improvement Trust Chawl in Bombay. I know your grievances.” Dr. Ambedkar continued, “The Khoti system is sucking your blood. This system of land tenure must be abolished. Its abolition will bring you peace and progress. In order to achieve your goal you must keep the agitation going on. India is likely to attain full control of its destinies in the coming four or five years. At that time you must take particular care to send to the Legislatures the right type of men as your representatives who would devoutly struggle for the abolition of this Khoti system.”

 

Besides, Dr. Ambedkar deserves to be credited as the pioneer of labour rights in India. However, like every other aspect, even this aspect of Babasaheb's personality remains hidden. As the member for labour in the Viceroy’s council, between 1942 to 1946, he was instrumental in bringing about several labour reforms. One of his biggest contributions that every working person in India should be thanking him for, even today, is that he changed the working hours from 12 hours to 8 hours, during the 7th session of Indian Labour Conference, New Delhi, November 1942.

 

Dr. Ambedkar also introduced several measures for workers like dearness allowance, leave benefit, employee insurance, medical leave, equal pay for equal work, minimum wages and periodic revision of scale of pay. He has a significant role to play in strengthening trade unions and establishing 'Employment Exchanges' across India. About the same, he had noted that "I want all people to be Indians first, Indian last and nothing else but Indians."