Chief Minister B.S. Yediyurappa, in his budget, has announced that A.K. Boarding Home, the first hostel for students of Scheduled Castes in Hassan, to which architect of Indian Constitution B.R. Ambedkar paid a visit, would be developed as a memorial at a cost of ₹1 crore. Now, the building is Boys’ Home under the Department of Women and Child Development.
The boarding home was set up on two-acre land in the heart of Hassan during the rule of Nalwadi Krishnaraja Wadiyar in the 1920s. This was the first hostel facility for students from untouchable communities. During his visit to Karnataka in 1953-54, Dr. Ambedkar visited a couple of education institutes in the State, including this one in Hassan and another in Holenarsipur.
“Kripadas, who was the warden of the hostel in Hassan, had arranged Dr. Ambedkar’s interaction with the students. Former Belur MLA Puttaranganath, was one among the students present at the time”, said Sridhar Kaliveera, one of the founder members of…
