Former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Prabhu Dyal Sookraj died at the age of 80 on December 2, 2021 in Clermont, Florida, USA. He died after a lengthy battle with Alzheimer’s, according to his family.
Bindra, as he was affectionately known, left Guyana in 1964 to attend university in Berlin, Germany after receiving a scholarship to study economics.
In 1969, Bindra returned to Guyana and tried unsuccessfully for two years to find a job in the public sector which he believed to be politicized along partisan lines. According to his family, Bindra persevered and eventually obtained a position as an economist at the Ministry of Agriculture. He was promoted to Chief Agricultural Planner only to hit what he believed to be a “glass ceiling” based again on partisan political lines. Bindra served at the Ministry for many years before leaving for the private sector. He joined Pavnik Press, his cousin’s printing company, as Managing Director in the late 1980s.
After the historic transition to democracy in 1992, Bindra was appointed to the position of Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture. His family said that he served for many years as Permanent Secretary until he was directed to participate in a corrupt act in 2000. Officials told Bindra to transfer public lands belonging to the Guyanese people to a private co-op established by a then senior government official and his cronies. Bindra refused to do so. As a result of his refusal, his family said that Bindra was marginalized in his role at the Ministry and ultimately removed from his position.
“He paid heavily for standing by his principles. Bindra lost his livelihood…Bindra always lamented that he witnessed the transformation of people he knew who fought for transparency, accountability and democracy for decades but became corrupt themselves once in power. He never understood the lure of power and money. Disappointed and disillusioned, Bindra left Guyana for the United States in 2002 with the hope of starting anew”, his family said.
Bindra is survived by his wife of 47 years, Bebi Sookraj and his children, Silke Douglass and Stefan Sookraj.
Bindra’s family is grateful to the staff of the Clermont Health and Rehabilitation Center for the quality of care they provided him during the last eight months of his life.
