Armoogum Parsuramen Born to Serve

By Dr. Armoogum Parsuramen

If ever there were a democratic leader in Mauritius whose life story had to be written, the true and ideal one would be none other than Armoogum Parsuramen. The list of his achievements is too long to enumerate. This is why his biography has to come out for his whole life is studded with social activities on the local, national and international plane. The results of his achievements have a direct impact on the lives of people far and wide. This man was born to serve.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pustaka Digital Media
• Release date: Feb 11, 2023
• ISBN: 6580561609528

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Armoogum Parsuramen Born to Serve

Author:

Dr. Armoogum Parsuramen

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Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION

1. TAMILIANS IN MAURITIUS

2. CHILDHOOD AND EARLY LIFE

The region of Cap Malheureux

Armoogum Parsuramen

Religion in the life of Armoogum Parsuramen

3. THE POLITICAL EVOLUATION OF MAURITIUS

Preamble

A democracy

Enter Anerood Jugnauth

Independence

4. JOINING POLITICS

5. ANNUS HORRIBILIS

6. MINISTER OF EDUCATION ARTS AND CULTURE (1983 – 1991) MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE (1991 – 1995)

Pre-primary

Primary education

Secondary education

Private tuition

Migration Halted

The Language Problem

Culture Preservation

7. EDUCATION FOR INDEPENDENT MAURITUS

1991 Master Plan for education for the year 2000

Master Plan for the year 2000: The Mauritian Experience

8. MINISTER PARSURAMEN

9. ON THE INTERNATIONAL PLANE

10. GLOBAL RAINBOW FOUNTATION

Jane Constance

Preeti Daby

The Global Rainbow Foundation

Specific objectives of the GRF

The interdisciplinary team of the GRF

The Jaipur foot

11. THIRUKKURAL AND ARMOOGUM PARSURAMEN

12. BY WAY OF CONCLUSION

BIBLIOGRAPHY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Sincerely grateful to Mr. Jim Sardes for his collection of press article cuttings from L’Express Daily.

Coco Parsuramen for his information concerning his ancestors who first settled in Beau Bois, Flacq, before coming to Cap Malheureux.

A special dose of gratitude goes to Ikshita Seenarain, the research assistant for the excellent research and digitalization of pictures. Your contribution to my work has been outstanding. Thank you for being so willing to dig so deep.

I extend my deep appreciation to Dylan Caulleechurn for designing the book cover and for capturing a few of the photographs included in the book and for his continued assistance.

I would like to express my gratitude to Florent Beusse, CEO Atoba, and the entire team, especially the Senior Graphic Designer Linda Leow, for their time and expertise.

A special word of gratitude to Dr. R. Prabhakaran for his truly contribution to the chapter on Thirukkural and Armoogum Parsuramen.

My special thanks to my son, Liladhur/Pryesh Sewtohul, for having gone through the whole book and the advice tendered.

INTRODUCTION

If ever there were a democratic leader in Mauritius whose life story had to be written, the true and ideal one would be none other than Armoogum Parsuramen. The list of his achievements is too long to enumerate. This is why his biography has to come out for his whole life is studded with social activities on the local, national and international plane. The results of his achievements have a direct impact on the lives of people far and wide. This man was born to serve.

He comes from the fields, beaches and fishing village of Cap Malheureux in the extreme North of the country in a large family common in the 1950s. The low incomes of those days made life very difficult. Dassen, as he was known around, had first-hand experience of the situation prevailing at home and outside. An impressionable lad, he quickly understood that his childhood and adolescence must be dedicated to education to move out of the miseries he was witnessing. After receiving primary schooling in his village, he proceeded to the newly-opened Friendship College in Goodlands. It was a fee-paying private college, the only one of its kind in the North at that time alongside Northern College in Plaines des Papayes. He borrowed his father’s bicycle to go there. He succeeded remarkably well in his Cambridge School Certificate examinations. In the 1960s, Bhujoharry College in Port Louis was the only private college providing Higher School Certificate classes in the country. It was also the home for political ebullition among the young brainy teachers. The students found their role models easily among them. Dassen had his fill of admiration and respect for his mentors. After passing his HSC, he joined the still new University of Mauritius set up in 1963 to do his B.A. Honors in Administration in the first batch of students for the degree.

He started work life as a teacher in his first alma mater, Friendship College. At the same time, he joined politics, his education permitting, and became a village councilor and even the chairman of the Riviere du Rempart/Pamplemousses District Council. He started his political career as a professional and was elected to the national assembly in the general elections of 1982 as a candidate of the Parti Socialiste Mauricien (PSM) of Harish Boodhoo representing Constituency No. 6, Grand Bay/Poudre d’Or/Goodlands. He was an exceptional candidate because he was not elected on the basis of caste or community but for his innate potential. In less than a year, dramatic changes came in the government so that a new party, the Mouvement Socialiste Mauricien (MSM), was created. It came into power in 1983. Armoogum Parsuramen was appointed Minister of Education, Arts and Culture.

He was barely 31 years old, the youngest member of the Cabinet, and burdened with a very demanding ministry. The challenge to him was to put our national education at all levels on a sure footing. He had to make the department functional to the satisfaction of the employees, the parents and the students. Surrounded by an able team of high caliber professionals, he succeeded in his mission with marked success and even came out with a Master Plan for Education to ensure the future. It is worth noting that there were no large-scale strikes or protests of any kind for he had a personality without blemish. His thirteen years as minister, and the longest serving one, was a glorious period in the history of Mauritius.

Leaving politics at the age of 45 when most politicians begin their career, he joined the United Nations and its affiliates to serve at international level. His Master Plan of Education in hand, he roamed over the continents sowing the seeds of progress. The most important fact was that he was learning at the same time. He retired when he came of age. Back to Mauritius in 2011, he used the experiences gleaned abroad to improve the conditions of life of persons with disabilities and diseased people of his motherland. He started the Global Rainbow Foundation in 2011 as a non-governmental organization. His Jaipur foot movement is working wonders with people who have lost their feet through surgery or accident. At the same time, his campaign to end the cutting off of diabetic feet, sustained by Dr. Divla Autar, is a worthwhile effort.

Dassen is now at his ashram in Petit Raffray from where he is running the Global Rainbow Foundation with his associates. It seems that he has yet to astound us further. Politicians generally retire with age or defeat and enjoy the rest of their lives among their dear ones. They have only one career. Not so for Dassen. There is life after life for him. He is exceptional in this sense, too. His service is to God through man. From grassroots to minister ship and the miraculous corridors of the UN and back to the roots again where he started from, this is an achievement unparalleled in the broad sense of the word. History will remember. Let his story unfold now.

Nivriti Sewtohul, CSK.

1. TAMILIANS IN MAURITIUS

Tamilians in Mauritius

The first Indians brought to Mauritius and Bourbon were Tamilians from Pondicherry, the main French headquarters along the coasts. The permanent settlement of Ile de France, the French name of Mauritius then, started in 1725 by France. In February