Rampersaud Tiwari left a special legacy in the civil service
It is with sadness I read of the recent passing of Rampersaud Tiwari in Toronto, formerly of Buxton. He was an outstanding public servant and a gentleman, with a long and distinguished career of service to our country, contributing to Guyana’s interests both at home and overseas. His wide experience in governance, knowledge of issues and government, and intellect saw him serve important government offices at various times. He served Her Majesty’s Government and post independent Guyana in the office of the Premier and Prime Minister – Premier Jagan and Prime Minister (President) Burnham.
Tiwari left a special legacy in the civil service, unrivalled by successors. He was bright and sharp and got paperwork done efficiently and quickly. Office duties came naturally to him. He maintained secrecy in his duties regardless of his master (the Governor, Premier, PM), and he often served as a kind of liaison between Jagan and Burnham during their difficult relationship.
Tiwari came from Panditai (Brahmin) stock but instead of pursuing purohit activities for Hindus, he opted to serve the people in government. After doing well in school and passing the required exams, he was hired by the Colonial Government serving with distinction over two decades.
Tiwari was a man of humility, kindness, compassion who cared for others. Unfortunately, this is a legacy that today is neither embraced by much of the public, nor many public servants, and politicians. He taught how to respect others and follow or carry out orders. These are scarce qualities today.
We need to bring the kind of legacy of efficiency, hard work, honesty, and integrity back into the forefront of public life and politics. The public must demand more of its public servants, and government officials must rise to a higher level of expectations.
Tiwari and I spoke regularly over several years on a variety of issues. He was an encyclopedia, a dictionary. Tiwari knew the Hindu scriptures quite well and often quoted from them in conversations with me. He knew Hindi and also some Sanskrit, the mother of so many Indian and European languages. Although he worked for the highest office in the land, he did not forget his roots. He was a regular attendee at mandir and he engaged folks in the rural communities surrounding Buxton. He also maintained strong ties with extended families. He had not a cell of prejudice in him.
After retiring from public service, during the dark days of totalitarian rule, he migrated to join family members in Canada. There, he continued his religious services and found more time for exchange with those involved in the struggle for restoration of democracy in Guyana. He did not join the struggle but he supported it. Tiwari presented papers at Indian diaspora and Guyanese conferences where we met including in Trinidad, Guyana, Canada, and India, among other places.
Tiwari is deserving of our country’s highest honours. I will miss his long conversations. Belated sympathy to his family!