New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday launched the BHIM-Aadhaar platform for digital payments to mark the 126th birth anniversary of BR Ambedkar.
Hailing the Dalit icon’s fight for the poor, Modi said the main aim of his Digital India push was to empower the economically weaker sections.
“BR Ambedkar has given many guarantees to the people. We did not have the privilege to fight for freedom, but we will definitely live for it… DigiDhan will empower the poor. It is a safai abhiyaan (cleanliness mission). It will fight the menace of corruption,” he said.
Addressing a gathering on the occasion, Modi said each referral of the BHIM would credit Rs 10 to the user’s account.
Referring to Ambedkar, Modi said he did not have a trace of bitterness or revenge in him despite facing struggles in his life.
Earlier, Modi paid homage to the architect of the Indian Constitution, Bharat Ratna Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar on the occasion of his 126th birth anniversary here on Friday.
Arriving in Nagpur on a daylong visit for various engagements, Modi started his day with a visit to the historic monument, Deekshabhoomi, where Babasaheb Ambedkar and over 600,000 followers had embraced Buddhism on October 14, 1956.
This ‘Dharmantar’ is considered the biggest mass religious conversion at a single location in history that took place 61 years ago.
Modi, accompanied by Union Minister Ramdas Athawale and Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, went around the Deekshabhoomi and later garlanded a large bust of Babasaheb Ambedkar installed there.
A series of functions has been organised to mark the Ambedkar Jayanti on Friday across Maharashtra, including at Deekshabhoomi in Nagpur and Chaityabhoomi in Mumbai, where Babasaheb Ambedkar was cremated following his death on December 6, 1956.
Born on April 14, 1891, Babasaheb Ambedkar was the first Law Minister of the Independent India, the principal architect of the Indian Constitution who dedicated his life for the uplift of Dalits, women and labourers, and was posthumously conferred the country’s highest civilian award Bharat Ratna in 1990.