Dr. B.R. Ambedkar converted the fight of the downtrodden into India’s most powerful framework of justice, equality, and dignity.
Why Do We Speak obout Dr. B.R. Ambedkar?
Dr. Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar (1891–1956) was among the finest nation-builders of modern India. To all of us, he was the Father of the Indian Constitution, but his achievement went beyond lawgiving—he was the person who offered hope, dignity, and a framework that promised equity to countless oppressed Indians.
Having been born in a Dalit family during the era of universal untouchability, Ambedkar fought against all social degradations to become one of India’s most educated persons in his day. He earned doctorates at Columbia University (1917) and the London School of Economics (1923)—a measure of the tenacity with which he pursued his goals, while Dalits were not even allowed to sit in the same class as higher-caste students.
We remember him because most of the rights we have today—equality before the law, abolition of untouchability, reservations in education and jobs, and legal rights for women—have their genesis directly attributed to his vision.
What Does Social Justice Mean in India?
Simply put, social justice is that all citizens would have equality of status, opportunity, and dignity irrespective of caste, gender, religion, or background. Ambedkar put this very thought at the heart of India’s Preamble, which calls upon “Justice—social, economic, and political.”
India was highly unequal at independence. Literacy was 10.3% among Dalits and just 8.9% among women, and just shy of 80% of Dalits were landless laborers. In making equality an integral part of the Constitution, Ambedkar instituted a system that went on to change these facts in the long run. Dalit literacy is more than 70% and women’s literacy is 65%—material proof of how the system he instituted gave rise to material social change.
Elimination Of Untouchability and Caste Discrimination
His initial difficulties shaped his resolve to end caste discrimination. His active participation in the Mahad Satyagraha (1927), where 10,000 Dalits agitated for entry to a public tank, and the Kalaram Temple Entry Movement (1930), where 15,000 agitated for entry to temples, were bold defies centuries of discrimination.
These measures resulted in Article 17 of the Constitution, which abolished untouchability and rendered it a criminal offense. This was a revolution: for the first time in world history, a constitution had declared caste discrimination a criminal offense. Legislation that followed, such as the Protection of Civil Rights Act (1955) and the SC/ST Atrocities Act (1989), took this vision forward, entrusting Dalits with the legal weapons to respond to daily injustices.
Social Justice Through the Constitution
Being Head of the Drafting Committee, Ambedkar turned ideals into law that could be implemented. Articles 14, 15, and 16 ensured equality before the law, prohibited discrimination, and provided public employment to all. Article 46 instructed the state to uplift the weaker sections. Most importantly, Ambedkar demanded reservations—15% for Scheduled Castes and 7.5% for Scheduled Tribes—to ensure fair representation in schools, work, and assemblies. Subsequently, 27% was reserved for OBCs.
The fruits are seen. Reserved seats in the Lok Sabha (84 for SCs and 47 for STs) ensure political voice. Thousands of Dalits, Adivasis, and backward-class citizens now occupy seats of power—positions unthinkable before 1950.
Ambedkar’s Warning: Equality or Collapse
Ambedkar realized that laws were inadequate to annul centuries of discrimination. During his Constituent Assembly address of 25 November 1949, he cautioned:
“Politics mein milenge equality, social aur economic life mein milenge inequality. Agar long ho jaayein usse ignore karne ki koshish, to hamari political democracy ko danger mein pad jaayega.”
These words are still as relevant now as they were when he originally uttered them. More than 50,000 atrocities based on caste are committed annually. Ambedkar had said that without social and economic justice along with political rights, there could never be a robust democracy.
Justice for Women
To Ambedkar, social justice could not exist without gender equality. The first Law Minister of India drafted the Hindu Code Bill (1951), which sought to grant women equal inheritance rights, the right to obtain divorces, and an independent status within matrimony. Though languishing then, several of its ideals eventually found their way into Indian law.
The long-term returns are irrefutable. Women’s literacy, which was 9% in 1951, stands at 65% today. Women have entered politics, academia, and the working class gradually, with some 14% MPs in the current Lok Sabha being female. Ambedkar’s work planted the seeds of this progress.
Economic and Labour Reforms as Social Justice
Ambedkar advocated quite strongly for no social justice except economic justice. His research in The Problem of the Rupee (1923) helped to form the Reserve Bank of India (1935). He was a believer in industrialisation and land reforms for emancipating Dalits from exploitative rural economies.
As a member of the Labour Viceroy’s Council (1942–46) in the Labour Party, he implemented revolutionary labour reforms: an eight-hour working day, paid leave, and maternity leave for women laborers. These reforms improved the lives of not only Dalits but all Indian working people, making Ambedkar one of the earliest champions of worker rights.
Education as the Key to Social Justice
Ambedkar urged the oppressed to “Educate, Agitate, Organise.” He knew fully well that education was the great leveler. He founded the People’s Education Society in 1945 and opened colleges in Bombay to ensure that Dalits gained access to higher education.
Now, because of constitutional reservations and this vision, OBC and Dalit students study in IITs, IIMs, and Indian universities. Education, denied to entire communities before, became the ladder of social mobility because Ambedkar built it into the justice system.
Buddhism: Cultural Dimension of Social Justice
Ambedkar also understood that the economy and law would not be strong enough to alter the people’s dignity. He, along with half a million followers, converted to Buddhism on 14 October 1956 in Nagpur and turned their backs on caste tyranny and embraced equality.
This mass conversion—once more the largest on record—started to endow Dalits with a cultural identity distinct from caste. Now, more than 8 million Ambedkarite Buddhists maintain this legacy. Ambedkar planned to grant subordinated classes not just legal rights, but a spiritual and cultural foundation for dignity.
Ambedkar’s framework has been implemented over the years by the judiciary. In the Indra Sawhney Case (1992), the Supreme Court validated OBC reservations, and in the M. Nagaraj Case (2006), it protected SC/ST promotions within the civil service. These judgments attested to the extent to which his vision had been absorbed into the juridical system.
His impact was felt even outside India. The United Nations, in 2012, had observed his birth anniversary as the Day of Equality. Ambedkar was a visionary even at an international level—affirmative action began in America during the 1960s, nearly two decades after Ambedkar had already included similar provisions in the Constitution of India.
Lasting Impact on India’s Social Justice System
The India of today lives up to Ambedkar’s vision. Dalit literacy has grown from 10% in 1951 to more than 70% now. Women’s literacy has risen from under 9% to 65%. Workers’ rights, like the eight-hour working day and maternity leave, are now the norm. Reserved constituencies and quotas ensure that minorities exercise political and administrative power. Ambedkarite Buddhism has brought a sense of cultural pride to millions.
These are not isolated results—these are a result of Ambedkar’s constitutional vision that established social justice as a way of life for millions.
Ambedkar as the Architect of Social Justice
Dr. B.R. Ambedkar established the Constitution as the cornerstone of India’s social justice system. He eradicated untouchability, established equality, provided reservations, empowered women, reformed labor laws, promoted education, and provided cultural dignity through Buddhism.
The social changes India has experienced since 1950—growing literacy, political enfranchisement, women’s empowerment, workers’ rights, and reduced caste exclusion—are all attributable to Ambedkar’s vision. He translated social justice from fantasy into a working system of rights and safeguards.
For this reason, Ambedkar is not only remembered as the Father of the Constitution but as the enduring creator of India’s social justice system.
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Author: Anjali Pandey
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