Daijiworld Media Network – Mangalore  
 
Mangalore, Apr 15: The 'Ambedkar Jyanthi' celebrations were jointly organized by the district administration, zilla panchayat and the department of social welfare at the Town Hall here on Monday, April 14. However, this event in total irreverence to the great leader received a near lackluster response.  

Several political leaders absented themselves, with the programme being attended only by a handful of officials lead by the deputy commissioner M Maheshwar Rao. However, the reason offered for the thin attendance, by the deputy commissioner and Mangalore City Corporation commissioner P K Subbaiah was that it was due to similar programmes being held by various organizations elsewhere in the district. The number of attendees at the Town Hall function barely touching a pathetic 100, clearly indicating the city's denizens’ complete lack of respect shown towards such a great Indian with the entire show getting over within 40 minutes. 

In the earlier part of the programme, Puttaswamy, district handicap welfare officer spoke briefly on the life and contribution of Ambedkar. In his address, the deputy commissioner Maheshwar Rao spoke about Ambedkar's contribution to the upliftment of the underprivileged. In the course of his speech he urged the public and the government departments to jointly come together to eradicate imbalance in society.  

Also present on the occasion were zilla panchayat chief planning officer Takatrao and social welfare officer Ganapathy.