The chawl in Mumbai where Dr BR Ambedkar, the father of the Constitution, lived between 1912 and 1934 will be converted into a national monument.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray made the announcement on Friday, On the occasion of 63rd death anniversary of the visionary leader, after visiting the three-storey structure called BIT Chawl near Damodar Hall at Parel area in Central Mumbai. Ambedkar lived in Room No 50 and 51 on the second floor.

Earlier in the day Thackeray along with Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari, assembly speaker Nana Patole, ministers Jayant Patil, Balasaheb Thorat and Subhash Desai and Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar, Mumbai municipal commissioner Pravin Pardeshi and others  paid homage to Ambedkar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar where the great social reformer was cremated.

He also announced that the work on a memorial for Ambedkar at Indu Mills in Dadar will be speeded up. The chief minister said that Ambedkar had rebelled against injustice and the memorial will be an inspiration fight against injustice and discrimination.

Thackeray is the first member of his family to visit Chaityabhoomi and pay tributes there.

The construction work on the memorial, which will be a 350-foot bronze statue, commenced last year and is being executed by MMRDA. About 20 percent work has been completed so far. The memorial will have a circular ramp installed to access the statue. It will have exhibition halls and a parikrama path which will be connected to Chaityabhoomi. It will also have a research centre, lecture halls, a library, conference halls, a meditation centre, an auditorium with a capacity to accommodate 1,000 people and landscaped gardens. There will be a two-level underground basement parking facility for nearly 450 vehicles and six-seven tourist buses. MMRDA will spend approximately Rs 709 crore to execute the project.