There are several similarities between the dismissals of Soorya Gayan from the Mahatma Gandhi Institute (MGI) and Cadress Rungen from the National Prevention Unit (NPU). If the government had its own good reasons, it has had a hard time trying to give plausible explanations both to the persons concerned and to the public – who have the right to know what the government has to complain of in these people who have managed public institutions for quite some time. But this is not the way it works, it seems.

Although Soorya Gayan had the privilege of receiving a letter to inform her that she was being sacked – Cadress Rungen is still waiting one week after he had a phone call – she has not been given the reasons for her dismissal. What is there to prevent her from thinking that she is a victim of the new regime, which couldn’t bear to see a former minister’s wife at the head of a public institution?

As for Cadress Rungen, he is convinced that the minister of Social Security, Sheila Bappoo, has undergone a lot of pressure from other social workers demanding his eviction from the NPU. But did they bring any evidence forward?

This question deserves a clear answer, as the minister did not give any coherent explanation in Parliament last Tuesday. As Navin Ramgoolam did a few days before with Soorya Gayan, Sheila Bappoo has vaguely mentioned “unclear aspects” in the management of the Natresa. With such bewildering statements, people can only wonder about the integrity of the social worker. And, as she benefits from parliamentary immunity, nothing can force the minister to give further explanations.

What makes the dismissal of Soorya Gayan even more unjustified is the PM’s proposal for another post at the MGI a few days later. Why did the government decide to dismiss Soorya Gayan from her post to offer her another lesser job soon afterwards? But the refusal of Soorya Gayan attests even more to her dignity and integrity. She proved she was not ready to accept being treated like a nobody and then taken back whenever the government was ready. She proved she was not a puppet in the hands of a government which doesn’t know very well what it wants.

Just like Cadress Rungen, Soorya Gayan was humiliated and hurt. Just like Soorya Gayan, Cadress Rungen has already said that he would not take back his job even if the government offered it again.

I suppose every government has the right to put people it trusts

at the head of institutions. But when people who have proved their worth – at least, if they have not, we are not aware – and who have done their job with all their hearts and all the professionalism required are dismissed, there’s something wrong in the system.

With such unjustified dismissals, Mauritius is definitely the loser.

We have lost two experienced people at the head of two major institutions. These people have never been on the political forefront; their work has always been more important than their own little concerns. This is certainly why they have not shown any resentment or anger towards the government. They only hope that the work they have started will continue be done in a proper way.