By Prem Misir Ph.D.

I want to continue the discussion on marginalization in this Viewpoint. My previous study on marginalization was preliminary. There, indeed, is more to come. However, today, I want to examine the state of play on the issue of ethnic involvement in various state sectors during the People’s National Congress (PNC) era. Participation in a society has to be evaluated on parameters governing the political economy, and in this case, the political economy under former President Burnham.
The following is what Mr. Burnham had to say about national unity in 1971. “When I described 1971 as the year of national unity…I meant the active involvement of the overwhelming number of Guyanese in our national goals and aims.”

Guyana under Burnham experienced serious economic failures. Let’s present a few as follows:
1. The 7-year Development Plan (1966-1972) buckled in 1969.
2.The ‘Feed, House and Clothe the Nation’ Development Plan remained a catchword without producing substance.
3. The third Development Plan (1978-81) increased the debt burden accompanied by little or no industrialization.
4. Hoyte claimed in 1981 that the economy ‘was disastrous’, and the New Nation (the PNC’s mouthpiece) noted that the economy was ‘tottering on the brink of collapse’.
5. Rigged elections continued to be the norm.
6.The militarization of Guyana was enhanced with about one military personnel for every 35 citizens.
7. The women’s section of the PNC proposed a one-party state for Guyana in 1971.
8. Norman Semple of the Guyana Public Service Association talked about ‘a crisis of authority’ induced by ‘a blurring of the line of authority between political and administrative decision making’, creating a problem in’…the efficiency of the administrative machinery of the state…’.
9. Decline in the East Indian student population at the University of Guyana possibly correlated with the operations of the National Service.
10. Perceptions that acquisition of significant jobs is related to holding a PNC membership card abounded.

There are other characteristics that cannot be included here, but which, indeed, will be part of a larger study on the falsity in the claim of marginalization.
My interpretations and discussion on ethnic participation are based on the findings of Debiprashad and Budhram’s study of East Indians in the Caribbean, published in the 1980s. These were two colleagues of mine at the University of Guyana.

Let’s see how East Indians and Africans fared under the PNC when it came to active participation in the public sector at July 1, 1979.
In agriculture, the data from six crops showed that more than 70% were East Indian operators. The crops were rice, sugar, coconuts, green vegetables, citrus, and pineapples. East Indians, according to the researchers, clearly contributed the most positive role in agricultural transformation of the economy. East Indians in their rural habitat provided an important food basket for Guyana at a time when the slogan ‘feed, clothe, and house’ the nation became a catch phrase. Later, the phrase remained a mere slogan.

Table1: Public Service-Senior Administrative and Executive Ranks

In the Ministries, only a handful of East Indians occupied senior administrative positions. Africans filled most of these posts, as evidenced in Table 1. In 1973, there was only one Permanent Secretary compared to two in 1979. About 37% of Principal Assistant Secretaries and 23% of Heads of Personnel Divisions were East Indians. There were 7 East Indian Ministers and 20 African Ministers.

Table 2 shows the racial and ethnic imbalance in education during the PNC’s ruling years. Africans headed all higher education institutions, as the University of Guyana, Cyril Potter College of Education. No East Indian headed the Multilateral Secondary Schools, while only five East Indians were Heads of Community High Schools out of a total of 25.
A serious racial imbalance of Education Officers prevailed. Out of a total of 20 Education Officers, 14 were Africans.

Africans dominated the Chairmanship and members of State Boards, Committees, and Commissions. There were 35 Chairmen of African origin of a total of 44 Boards/Committees/Commissions. Of a total of 487 members of Boards/Committees/Commissions, only 97 were East Indians and 365 were Africans.
At the time of the study, there were 38 corporations and companies under the jurisdiction of the Guyana State Corporation. Each corporation had a Board of Directors and a General manager. In a total of 270 Directors, 170 were Africans and 53 were East Indians. General Managers numbered 24 Africans and 7 East Indians. Even among Deputy General Managers, Africans dominated, carrying 18 out of 27 positions.

This racial and ethnic imbalance demonstrated in the 1970s, achieved a high level of sustainability almost throughout the PNC’s ruling years. This is part of the PNC’s legacy of sustained ethnic imbalances in the public sector, a legacy that corrodes the foundations of the social and economic infrastructures of this country. When the Opposition elements complain about the performance of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP/C) Administration, let them know that many of these infrastructures are being rebuilt.

The PPP/C Government, erroneously perceived as favoring East Indians, has not created an East Indian public sector, in the same way that the PNC regime concocted an African-dominated public sector. Perhaps, we can say East Indians were marginalized in the Public Sector during the PNC ruling years. In fact, the PPP/C Administration has long begun the arduous task of enabling all ethnic groups to actively participate in Guyana’s national goals and aims. These hard data convincingly demonstrates the PPP/C’s commitment to all ethnic groups. Prepare for more hard data on marginalization.
TOP

Link to other Sectors
AGRICULTURE | EDUCATION | FOREIGN AFFAIRS | HEALTH | OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT |
LABOUR, HUMAN SERVICES & SOCIAL SECURITY | TOURISM, INDUSTRY & COMMERCE |

Miscellaneous Links
University of Guyana | Guyana Elections Commission | Guyana Chronicle |
Guyana Office for Investments | News and Information