TODAY I want to epitomise the very character of Comrade Premchand Dass. He was, after all, the son of downtrodden sugar workers, who began his struggles in the sugar estates of the economic and social disparity of classes, in the pursuit of social justice, even before he left Berbice to work with the Guyana Agricultural and General Workers Union (GAWU).
I have had the honour and privilege to work alongside Comrade Premchand Dass in the GAWU as a Field Secretary.
I was always moved and deeply touched by the sincere way in which he expressed his beliefs. Whether he was discussing political issues or industrial issues that impacted on the working man and woman, Premchand Dass admired and worked along with the champion of trade unionism, Dr Cheddi Jagan, and Comrade Janet Jagan.

He opined that for a union to give proper representation to the workers, it should be fully aware of working-class conditions and problems and have  thorough knowledge of the theory and practice of the workers’ place of work. I myself, perhaps, can claim to be particularly well equipped to do that, because I participated with Comrade Premchand Dass for much of this period, as a Field Secretary both of the GAWU and Caricom Rice Mills Ltd at Anna Regina, Essequibo Coast.

My first immediate contact with Premchand had occurred as a student of the GAWU School and the Caricom Rice Mills Ltd, when he came for negotiations with the management on wages and salaries. Many of the union executives and the workers would know that that friendship was exceptionally forged in some ways. We had a bond which I felt was very important to my own personal development, and he and I talked about a lot of things.
The subjects were several:the struggle for better working conditions, and the full flowering of the entire workers’ education, as we called it then; and a lot of the ideas that we engaged in seemed to be in strong opposition to what was happening in the rice industry.

No one can dispute that Premchand Dass made enormous contributions to GAWU. On July 6, 2012, the former Education Secretary and stalwart, who championed the causes of workers, passed on. He was indeed a true patriot to his country.

Mr. Dass was called upon to serve the GAWU in the 1950s by the late Dr Cheddi Jagan, and he worked his way up and finally became the principal of the organisation. This ‘country boy’, who was born in Berbice, a well known sugar community, was a grassroots man. He had his own style in dealing with sugar and rice workers’ problems.

Our country, and the agriculture sector in particular, have suffered a great loss by his passing. We, as a people, will have to work on the foundation he has laid to continue building the union and the agriculture sector of our country. His demise came as a shock to me, although I knew that he was ailing for a long time.

He will be remembered by all as a true patriot, friend and comrade; all the way in the interest of agriculture, especially the sugar and rice industries, and the party.