Balram Singh Rai (8 February 1921 – January 2022) was a Guyanese politician. He served as Minister of Community Development and Education from 1959 to 1961, then the first Minister of Home Affairs from 1961 to 1962.

Education and early career

Rai was born on 8 February 1921 in

Beterverwagting Beterverwagting, also Betterverwagting or abbreviated to B.V., is a village in Guyana, on the East Coast of the Demerara River. History On 8 May 1839, 62 former slaves pooled their savings together and bought plantation Beterverwagting from Bar ...

Village on the East Coast of

Demerara Demerara ( nl, Demerary, ) is a historical region in the Guianas, on the north coast of South America, now part of the country of Guyana. It was a colony of the Dutch West India Company between 1745 and 1792 and a colony of the Dutch state ...

, the child of Ramlachan and Radha Rai. They are

Hindus Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

of the Arya Samaj denomination from which Rai never deviated by all accounts. He passed his Junior and Senior Cambridge exams at the age of 13, and 16, respectively, and received an LLB degree with honors from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

. One early prominent position he held was Vice President of the Civil Service Administration in 1949. While a civil servant, he promoted the then PPP leader,

Cheddi Jagan Cheddi Berret Jagan (22 March 1918 – 6 March 1997) was a Guyanese politician and dentist who was first elected Chief Minister in 1953 and later Premier of British Guiana from 1961 to 1964. He later served as President of Guyana from 199 ...

, as a candidate for the 1947 General Election. In 1952, Rai was called to the bar at

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's Inn ...

Political affiliations

Rai entered politics when Guyana had three major rival parties—The People's Progressive Party (PPP), The People's National Congress (PNC), and The United Force (UF). He sided with the PPP, but later he made a controversial move to form his own party, the Justice Party. The controversy ranged over jobs, race, power, and corruption. Rai’s party, however, could not penetrate the market share of the established parties—PPP, PNC, and UF. In the 1964 general election, the JP got only 1,334 votes, less than a percent, and not amounting to a seat in parliament.

Parliamentary years

Rai represented Central Demerara in parliament during the 1957-1964 period. During 1959-1961 he was Minister of Community Development and Education, and during 1961-1962 he was Minister of Home Affairs. On November 1970, he went into voluntary exile, living at Ealing,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, UK.

Political achievements

As Minister of Education, he abolished the dual control of school, and brought the denomination schools under government control. This achievement aimed to disallow indoctrination of students into other faiths. He chose a merit system to fill government positions. This is sometimes called a policy of “Guianization,” which did not discriminate among the nation's six nationalities. On the human-rights side, he ordered the police to step down from their aggressive policy of shooting people perceived as creating disturbances during the Black Friday Riot incident of 16 February 1962.

Death

Rai died in

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

, England during the second week of January 2022, at the age of 100.

References