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Dewandranath Kissoondoyal also known as Dave Kissoondoyal is currently employed as Group Technical Director and Chief Technology Officer- CTO for Bowman Group of Companies. Dave is an Associate Member of Chartered Management Institute, UK. Dave Kissoondoyal has been one of the nominees for the Most Outstanding Young Person for the Republic of Mauritius for the years 1996 and 2003. The AOYP program of Jeune Chambre Economique de Maurice serves to recognize individuals between the ages of 18 and 40 who exemplify the best attributes of the young people of Mauritius. Dave has been selected by the Board of Directors of the World Summit Award as the NATIONAL EXPERT from Mauritius in the framework of the World Summit on the Information Society. He has been selected from among the 489 Eminent Expert nominations from 136 countries from the leading governmental, industry and NGO institutions and associations in the field of e-content, multimedia, internet and ICT. He is an Editor of the Open Site Internet Encyclopedia. http://open-site.org/profiles/mauritian.html . He is a featured member of the TakingItGlobal Community. http://www.takingitglobal.org/home.html?shell=fmviewfm&MemberID=41718. Dave is a member of the Development Gateway Community. http://www.developmentgateway.org/shared/community-member?user_id=987729. He is also a member of the Digital Divide Network. http://www.digitaldivide.net/profile/mauritius. He is a member of the Small Islands Developing States Network http://whoiswho.sidsnet.org/index.cfm?module=Members&page=Profile&UserID=1216. Dave is a Member of the Public Interest Registry .ORG Advisory Council. Public Interest Registry (www.pir.org) is a not-for-profit corporation created by the Internet Society to manage the .ORG domain. PIR's mission is to manage the .ORG domain in an exemplary manner while educating and empowering the global non-commercial community to more effectively utilize the Internet. PIR is based in Reston, Virginia. PIR created the .ORG Worldwide Advisory Council in 2003 to focus solely on .ORG issues. It is made up of leaders from the broad spectrum of the non-commercial world. The Council serves as a key resource to the PIR Board and Staff to incorporate worldwide input on policies, strategies, programs, and services affecting the international non-commercial community. Dave is a member of the The African Stakeholders Network (ASN) of the United Nations Information and Communication Technologies Task Force. The ASN has been launched to ensure that United Nations-efforts to bridge the digital divide in Africa are better coordinated, more inclusive and reflective of the significant efforts already underway to develop an African information society. He is a member of the following working groups of the UN ICT Task Force http://www.unicttaskforce.org/perl/user.pl?do=profile;id=2525.
Dave Kissoondoyal is a member of the UNESCO's Information for All Programme (IFAP) National Committee of Mauritius. Information for All (IFAP) is an intergovernmental Programme of UNESCO. http://www.unesco.org/webworld/ifap UNESCO's Information for All Programme provides a platform for international policy discussions and guidelines for action on:
The Information for All Programme provides a
framework for international co-operation and international and regional
partnerships. It supports the development of common strategies, methods and
tools for building a just and free information society and for narrowing the gap
between the information rich and the information poor. The Information for All
Programme is a key element in the fulfilment of UNESCO's mandate to contribute
to "education for all", to the "free exchange of ideas and knowledge" and to
"increase the means of communication between peoples".
He is
one of the five founder members of the
Mouvement Républicain Political Party. He resigned when he realised that the
Party diverted from its goals and objectives. After mere reflection, he joined
the
MMM Political Party. He is the Secretary of the MMM Regional No. 11 and from
time to time he attends the Comite Centrale of the MMM.
When
Dave Kissoondoyal returned to Mauritius after working two and a half years in
the United Kingdom, he realised the lag Mauritius had in terms of Information
and Communications Technology. Therefore he founded the Internet Society of
Mauritius (http://www.isoc-mu.org)
with the objective of promoting the
Internet in Mauritius. He is the President of the Society. The Internet
Society of Mauritius is a
chapter of the Internet Society (International),
http://www.isoc.org. The Internet Society of Mauritius was nominated in the
E-Achievers Award 2002 and
f
Dave’s
youth was not an ordinary one since he comes from a poor family. His family did
not have any property at all. His father was an attendant at the Civil Aviation
Department. His mother was a cow rearer. His family was living in a rented house
at Mare d’Albert. With the small income of his father and the revenue from milk,
it was really difficult to send all the five children to School. However, with
the help and comprehension of all the seven members of the family and the
perseverance of the parents, all five children have been able to study till
Cambridge Higher School Certificate. Dave, being the eldest son of the family
had to wake up at 5:00 AM in the morning and go to fetch fodder for the cows
before going to school. Dave’s father was allowed to do some plantation in a
plot of state land within the Civil Aviation Department complex. So Dave had to
go on weekends to work on the land at Plaisance Airport. He had to cycle from
Mare d’Albert to Plaisance and on his return either brings wood, grass or
tomatoes on his bicycle.
During
his school holidays, Dave had to go and work in sugar cane fields to be able to
earn some money to be able to buy new clothes and books. Dave only took private
tuition for his Higher School Certificate exams.
Though he was really shocked after the death of his father in April 1984 –
since, being the eldest son, he would have to work, to care for his family, and
continue schooling for his younger brothers – he passed the Higher School
Certificate exams in November of the same year.
After
leaving School, Dave had a very bad experience when he was thrown in the job
market against his will since he always had the desire to study till university
level. Dave made more than 300 applications for job but was never given one
since he came from a poor family; he was not related to any influential
personality.
Since,
he did well in interviews and was not selected, he was informally recommended to
have a backing from somebody influential. Dave wrote various letters to the
Prime Minister in relation to interviews at Overseas Telecommunications Ltd as
he was subject to injustice. Dave personally explained his situation after
having granted an appointment with the
Prime Minister, however this did not remedy his situation because the Prime
Minister's instruction was not followed to the letter since he was somebody that
could be ignored. Dave addressed again to the
Prime Minister where he mentioned that he agreed to what Mr Harish Boodhoo
mentioned in his memorandum- that all the jobs at the Overseas
Telecommunications Services were held by the relatives of Ministers and MLAs.
Dave
remained unemployed from Dec 1984 to March 1986. His first job was as a Clerk at
Gaytree Textiles industries. Dave
started working with a salary of Rs 1,200.
Now, he
is the Group Technical Director and Chief Technology Officer of the Bowman Group
of Companies. Dave climbed the ladder solely with his efforts and hard work and
now he has reached the topmost position in his field.
He
reached this position only because he is committed to his work and has been hard
working throughout the years. Dave Kissoondoyal had received offer for
employment from different companies both in Mauritius and overseas.
In 1990,
he received an offer from the
MBC for the post of Trainee Technical Operator, which a starting salary of
Rs 2,550. He declined the offer since he though that it would not be better than
the
OTS, since he was not related to eminent personalities. He opted for the
private sector and joined
Blanche Birger Co. Ltd because he knew his capabilities and strives for
learning as well.
In 1992
and 1993, Dave received the Merit Award Shield from Blanche Birger Co. Ltd for
his exceptional work at Blanche Birger. He obtained
encouraging letters from the Customers of Blanche Birger Co. Ltd, for
example one from General Manager of the Status Information Technology Ltd in
1994 – “ We also wish to place on record Mr D. Kissoondoyal ‘s remarkable
performance. He showed a high sense of responsibility and commitment which
largely contributed to the success of the installation.”
In 1999,
Dave Kissoondoyal received an
offer for employment as Software Engineer from Mastech in Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, USA. The starting salary was $4533.33 (USD) plus benefits (approx
Rs 150,000 per month) Dave declined the offer since he wants to serve his
country first before serving other countries. Money is not everything.
In 2000,
Dave Kissoondoyal declined another offer. This time was from VocalTech in Cork,
Ireland for the post of
Telecommunications and IT Director. The Starting salary was £49,500 per
annum plus benefits (approx Rs 175,000 per month).
Dave
attended the
Sookdeo Bissoondoyal State Secondary School of Rose Belle. For all the
school years at SBSSSRB, he was the Executive Member of the School Council
and elected
Head Boy of the School in 1984. He was also an Executive Member of the
“Amicale des Etudiants”, an Association of Students, which grouped all the “A”
status Schools.
While
leaving the School, Dave received the following note from the Rector, Mr Zahur
Maudarbocus: “Mr Dewandranath Kissoondoyal is a very neat, quiet,
well-mannered and serious young man of very good character. He has a very
friendly personality and he gets on very well with people. Throughout his stay
at this institution, he has been very hardworking, conscientious, regular and
punctual. In fact he has scarcely even been absent from or late at school. Mr
Kissoondoyal has also participated in a great variety of extra-curricular
activities and has always been a credit to the School…He was even awarded a
special prize for his good conduct and hard work during the Cultural exchange
with with Lycee Roland Garros of Reunion Island. In 1984, Mr Kissoondoyal was
elected the Head Boy of the School and he proved a very active Leader. I have
always known Mr Kissoondoyal to seek, accept and shoulder responsibility and I
have never had any cause for complaints. Moverover he is honest and loyal.”
Dave was
involved in Youth club and
social activities at Mare d’Albert. Was one of the founders of the Celtic
Youth Club of Mare d’Albert and has been in the Executive Committee for many
years. Has also been a Member of the Rural Youth Movement of Mauritius (RYMOM).
Followed course on First-Aid from the St John’s Ambulance and also obtained the
Bronze Award of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. Was one of the
pioneers of the National Young Volunteers Scheme. In 1983, followed a course on
Club Management and Leadership from the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Dave
Kissoondoyal has always been engaged in social and religious activities. He has
been an Executive Member of the
Rose Belle North Government School PTA. He was the Secretary of the
Mare d’Albert Community Health Centre. He was also the Secretary of the
Geetanjali Sangeet Sangh of Mare d’Albert. This is an association with the
objective of performing religious musical items in public gatherings. He was a
member of the Arya Samaj of Mare d’Albert. He is a member of the Hindu Samelan
Sabha of Union Park and the Union Park Arya Sanatan Dharmic Sabha.
He
attaches much importance on moral and religious values. He thinks purification
of the self helps oneself to combat all obstacles and helps to lead a happy
life. Due to his religious convictions, he has maintained strict discipline on
his character and personality. Since childhood he always fasts on the first day
of the week. He consumes only sweet food and fruits on Mondays. He also fasts on
any Hindu religious day like Shivaratree – including the Monthly Shivaratree,
Ugadi, Cavadee, Ganesh Chaturthi and Ram and Durga Nawmi
To
purify the society, he has organised
Kathas for the public. As secretary, he performed the first katha for the
village of Mare d’Albert between the 18th and 26th April
1987. When he moved to the village of Union Park, performed various other Kathas
as Secretary of the Union Park Arya Sanatan Dharmic Sabha.
Dave
Kissoondoyal has also studied
Indian Philosophy, but unfortunately could not take the exams since he had
to travel to the United Kingdom on his professional commitments. At some stage
in time, he also started the Priest Course from the Mauritius Sanatan Dharma
Temples Federation to acquire the religious knowledge. Dave is inspired by
Mahatma Gandhi and mentions that he will follow the same path as the Mahatma and
if ever he would get a death like Mahatma, he would open heartedly accept such
death.
One of
the main objectives of Dave Kissoondoyal is to work for the welfare of the
community especially those that are vulnerable and who need help. In this
respect, much effort was concentrated for the welfare of Children. Dave held
various responsible posts at the
Save the Children Mauritius. His stay at Save the Children was remarkable
since he was fully engaged in the activities of the Association and held
important posts such as Secretary, Treasurer and President. As a volunteer, he
has been continuously struggling for the betterment of the Mauritian Child. He
has operated at all levels, be in the advocacy level, influencing the policies,
at the grass root level with the communities, in Emergency relief, Training,
national and regional levels.
He was
involved in various sensitization campaigns such as “Consolidation de la famille
pour la protection et bien-etre des enfants” and on “ Early Childhood
Development”. He was in the organisation of the salon de l’enfance. The aim of
the salon was to take stock of the services offered by the Government and NGOs
towards the welfare of children and secondly to sensitize the population on
Children issues. He was also involved with counselling to children in distress.
As
Secretary of the Save the Children Mauritius, he organised and participated
actively in street exhibitions on Children’s Rights throughout the whole island.
He has been actively propagating the Rights of the Child and promoting the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child. He participated in the preparation of a
pamphlet “Conseil aux Parents”. He conducted a survey to collect children’s
views on specific issues. He also launched the child oriented and leisure
activities for Children at the Save the Children Centre at Vacoas. He organised
various film shows for children in different regions
To
safeguard a better future of the children, Dave Kissoondoyal is convinced that
the community must be empowered. He launched various Community Development
projects with the support of the local community. Examples are Creve Coeur,
Chamarel and Baie de Tombeau. In Creve Coeur, a library was set up and medical
screening done.
When
Dave Kissoondoyal was the Treasurer of the Save the Children Mauritius, he was
engaged in the setting up of the Eglantyne Jebb Training centre for disabled
children and school dropouts. He organised the forum on “Adolescent et les
parents” and the workshop leading to the Casela Declaration in connection to the
World Summit on Social Development. He was also engaged in the joint
collaboration between Save the Children Mauritius and the Jeune Chambre
Economique de Beau Bassin – Rose Hill on the organisation of the Play and
Leisure Day. He also initiated the setting up of a Leisure ground for disabled
children at Vacoas.
Dave
played an important role in drafting the alternate report on the
Convention of the Rights of the Child submitted to the UN Committee of the
Rights of the Child. Having followed the
training of trainers course from the International Save the Children Alliance,
he conducted a training course for NGOs and Government Officials on the 2nd
and 3rd April 1996. Dave Kissoondoyal attended the
World Congress on the Social Commercial Exploitation of Children in Stockholm,
Sweden.
Dave had
set up the Rodrigues Emergency Relief Operation to bring help to the people
especially children of Rodrigues. Similarly he was behind the setting up of the
Madagascar Relief Operation , Rwanda Relief Operation and Hollanda Relief
Operation. He had set up a training Centre for school dropouts and disabled
children at Rodrigues, including a library, medical check-ups for children and
nutrition course for mothers.
Dave was
an Executive Committee Member of the “Amicale des Etudiants”; he was the founder
member of the Celtic Club of Mare d’Albert. He was a member of the Rural Youth
Member of Mauritius. Dave was the
secretary of the OTS-MTS Magazine committee. Dave followed various courses
to help him in his social activities. He followed the First-Aid Course from the
St. John’s Ambulance and the course on Club Management and Leadership from the
Ministry of Youth and Sports. He has obtained the Bronze Award of the Duke of
Edinburgh’s Award Scheme. He has also followed training on Leadership in
Voluntary Social Work of the New De-addiction Centre Mauritius. He is also
trained by the International Save the Children Alliance to train trainers on the
UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. In a letter dated 18th June
1985, the
Minister of Youth and Sports of that time stated –“ Dewandranath
Kissoondoyal..would seem to be the ideal type of the Mauritian Youth..”
As
mentioned earlier, Dave Kissoondoyal’s life was not an easy one. Dave got
married at the age of 25 to Miss Rameshwaree Ramlugon, ex-secretary at the
European Union (Ex EEC). After two and a half years of happy married life, his
wife passed away leaving two daughters under his sole responsibility. However
this did not prevent him in his urge for helping others as he continued with his
responsibilities at the Save the Children Mauritius and his commitments at the
religion level. Dave gave both maternal and paternal affection to his daughters
for another four years before being married to Miss Devika Khulputeea. Dave is
now leading a happy
family life with his four daughters and one son. Dave’s will to struggle in every spheres of life has contributed to his success and the message he gives to anybody is as follows:
“ There
is always dawn after a dark night, one has to be patient. With patience, hard
work and perseverance one can achieve the goal of his life.”
Dave
Kissoondoyal’s urge for helping others without expecting anything in return has
made him exercise in various fronts like in club and associations, in
social activities and within religious framework. Dave most ultimate aim is
to get involved fully in
politics and set an example in this field as well. He wants to be a model
for the future generations.
Dave
Kissoondoyal believes much in the work done than building the political image
through public exposure. Although being behind the scene, he has provided many
ideas to political parties and the Government in place. He has taken his
patriotic responsibility fully, by sending his views and opinions concerning the
welfare of the nation.
Though
the MSM Government was in place since 1982, there was no Youth Movement of the
Party up to 1988. On the 14th of January 1988, Dave Kissoondoyal sent
a letter to the
President of the MSM, Mr Michael Glover with the suggestion to set up a
Youth Movement of the Party. On the 10th of February 1988, Mr Michael
Glover, who was the
Minister of Youth and Sports responded to Dave’s letter and mentioned that
he had the green light from the Prime Minister to set up the Youth Movement.
In 1995,
Dave Kissoondoyal together with Rama Valayden, Sunil Dowarkasing, Nitin Sewduth
and Gerard Louise formed the
“Groupe de reflexion d’Emmanuel Anquetil” (GREA). Slowly more members joined
the group. During the General elections of 20th December 1995, the
group travelled throughout the 20 constituencies of Mauritius and named it
“Convoi de l’Unite”, where national reconciliation was preached.
After
the elections, meetings were held throughout the whole island and the group
worked day and night for the Electoral Reforms, first document of GREA. GREA
decided to regroup credible personalities irrespective of their previous
political affiliations to create a true republican platform. The result gave
birth of the
“Mouvement Républicain”, on Friday 23rd August 1996.
Dave was
the first Treasurer of the
Mouvement Républicain. The party was doing well in the early days and
promoting the republican values. After a major rise in the price of basic
stuffs, the MR Party affixed posters throughout the whole island. Dave
Kissoondoyal, together with four MR members was arrested in Flacq in February
1997. Though the posters were hand written, the police charged them of affixing
posters without the name of the publisher. The case was sent to Court and on the
third hearing, only Dave Kissoondoyal had to plea guilty since he was seconded
for duty in the UK and would not be available to attend the court.
When
Dave Kissoondoyal returned to the island, after working for two and a half years
in the United Kingdom, he realised that the MR party has been diverted from its
initial objectives. Dave then joined the MMM Regional 11. He also noticed that
nothing was done on the ICT sector. Dave sent a fax to the
Deputy Prime Minister on 2nd January 2001, proposing to use ICT
to boost the economy. This was the foundation to the Cyberisland concept. Dave Kissoondoyal is currently the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the MMM Regional No. 11. Dave sends his ideas and views on the ICT sector in Mauritius to the Minister of IT and Telecoms as well as to the Deputy Prime Minister. He is invited in various seminars and conferences on the ICT sector to participate. Dave believes in "what you can give to the country rather than what the country can give you." To Enter Internal Pages - Click Here
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