Nanak Chand Rattu

Nanak Chand Rattu (1922–2002) was the personal assistant of B. R. Ambedkar, India's first Minister of Law. Like Ambedkar, Rattu was born in a Dalit family that was considered untouchable in the traditional caste-based society. He came from Punjab to Delhi in search of a job, and became known to Ambedkar as a government employee. Even after Ambedkar resigned from his position, Rattu continued to serve him, and typed most of his writings, including the manuscripts of The Buddha and His Dhamma and Riddles in Hinduism. After Ambedkar's death, he wrote books on Ambedkar's life that were published in the 1990s.

Early life

Nanak Chand Rattu was born on 6 February 1922 in the Sakruli village of Hoshiarpur District of Punjab.

As Ambedkar's secretary and factotum

Rattu served as Amebdkar's secretary for over 17 years, from 3 January 1940 to Ambedkar's death on 6 December 1956. Ambedkar served as the Minister of Law in the First Nehru ministry, and during 1942–1951, Rattu visited Ambedkar's official residence (first 22 Prithviraj Road and then 1 Hardinge Avenue) several times. These writings included the manuscripts of the books The Buddha and His Dhamma and Riddles in Hinduism.

After Ambedkar's death

Savita Ambedkar continued to live at 26 Alipur Road after her husband's death. Ambedkar's papers, including the ones typed by Rattu, were kept in a storeroom: Rattu would dust and fumigate them occasionally. In 1967, many of these papers were destroyed in rain, after the new owner of the house dumped them in a yard.

In his own book, published in the 1990s, Rattu implies that Savita Ambedkar ensured that her husband did not get adequate medical care in the final years of his life, leading to his death. In 1997, Last Few Years of Dr Ambedkar, another of his books, was published.

Rattu donated several items to an Ambedkar-themed museum established by Wamanrao Godbole at Shantivan in Chincholi (near Nagpur). These items had been gifted to him by Savita Ambedkar, and included several things used by the Ambedkars. In 2001, there was a conflict among the museum's committee members, and Rattu learned that Godbole was being ousted from the committee. Rattu decided to demand his donations back, but for this, he needed a certificate from Savita Ambedkar stating that she had gifted these to him. Since he was not on talking terms with her anymore, he drafted the certificate, and requested Vijay Surwade to get her signature on the document. However, Vijay Surwade did not get the document signed because Savita Ambedkar was in an "unbalanced state of mind" at the time. Rattu died shortly after, on 15 September 2002, and Savita Ambedkar died in 2003.