Ranji Chandisingh

Ranji Chandisingh was a political leader from Guyana. He was born on January 5, 1930 at San Fernando, Trinidad and Tobago, and died on June 15, 2009 at his home at Waterloo Street, Guyana. He was the son of Dr. Charles Washington Chandisingh and Amelia Chandisingh.[1][2][3] Ranji is survived by his wife Venorica,and son Yuri.

Education and early occupations

He attended Buxton Methodist School on the East Coast Demerara (ECD) and the Modern High School at Robb Street in Georgetown. In 1946 at the age of 16, he went to Harvard University, USA, to pursue a degree in medicine, but switched to Social Science, graduating with a BA in 1949.[2] For a while, Ranji became an editor. After Harvard, he went to the United Kingdom, working as editor for the “Caribbean News,” a monthly newspaper.[1] Then on his return to Guyana in the early 1960s, he joined the PPP party and took editorship of its newspaper, “Thunder”. Ranji was Director of studies of the ideological institute, “Macabre College,” the People’s Progressive Party’s (PPP) official college at Success Village, ECD, and then at Land of Canaan Village, East Bank of Demerara, Guyana. Later, he was Director of Studies of the “Cuffy Ideological Institute” at Loo Creek, Soesdyke/Linden Highway, Guyana. This had happened when Ranji chose to leave the PPP to join the People’s National Congress (PNC) party in 1976.[2] The reason for this change remains speculative. One reason given is that Ranji was not comfortable with the slow and diverse path the PPP was taking towards the goals of Marxism and Leninism, the philosophy he most cherished. The PNC government was by then a declared socialist party

and seemed to him the best party at the time to unify Guyana.[4] Another reason is that Ranji was not comfortable following the orders of the then PPP leaders—he was recently married and took to drinking a lot.<ref =Colin.>Colin A. Palmer. (2010).”Cheddi Jagan and the Politics of Power: British Guiana's Struggle for Independence.” Chapel Hill, N. C.: The University of North Carolina Press, p. 171.</ref>

Political affiliation

1. British Communist Party. 2. PPP. 3. PNC.

Parliamentary experience

1951-1964: Minister of Labor, Health and Housing in British Guiana. 1967:Senior Vice President and First Deputy Prime Minister; then later appointed Ambassador to Moscow.[1] January 1980: Minister of Higher Education.[5] 1981:Minister of Education, Social Development and Culture.[5] 1984:General Secretary of the PNC.[5] 1988-early 1990s: He was Guyana’s Ambassador to the Former Soviet Union. Upon his return to Guyana, he retired from active politics.[6]

Political achievements

Introduce the Labor relation bill in parliament in 1960. He initiated paradigmatic changes in education reform.[7] He was one among only a few that mastered the pragmatics of communist ideology in the country.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "CHS/JCCSS International Alumni - Alumni Blog". Chs-jccss.org. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 "Obituary-Ranji Chandisingh, January 5, 1930 − June 15, 2009". Guyanagoverance.blogspot.com. Retrieved 2016-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Guyana says farewell to Ambassador Ranji Chandisingh". Kaieteurnewsonlnie.com. 20 June 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  4. ↑ "The struggle to end PNC rule continues during the 1970's" (PDF). Jagan.org. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 "Ranji Chandisingh – Former Ambassador to Moscow passes on". Kaieteurnewsonline.com. 17 June 2009. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  6. ↑ "Ranji Chandisingh - Find Email Address, Phone Number & More.". Zoominfo.com. Retrieved 7 June 2016.
  7. ↑ Ranji Chandisingh, “Education in the Revolution for Socialist Transformation and Development,” in Report on the Third Biennial Congress of the People’s National Congress, Vol. 2 (1974), pp. 149–173, in Guyana National Archives, PNC Collection.
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