Pravind Jugnauth

The MP Pravind Jugnauth परावीन्द जुग्नौथ
Member of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 March 2009
President	Sir Anerood Jugnauth
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Paul Bérenger
Leader of Opposition
In office 5 July 2005 – 5 July 2007
President	Sir Anerood Jugnauth
Prime Minister	Navin Ramgoolam
Preceded by	Navin Ramgoolam
Vice Prime Minister of Mauritius
In office 7 October 2003 – 5 July 2005
President	Sir Anerood Jugnauth
Prime Minister	Paul Bérenger
Preceded by	Paul Bérenger
Succeeded by	Rashid Beebeejaun
Personal details
Born	(1961-12-25) 25 December 1961
Political party	Militant Socialist Movement
Spouse	Kobita Ramdanee
Children	Sonali Jugnauth Sonika Jugnauth Sara Jugnauth
Occupation	Barrister

Pravind Kumar JugnauthMP (born:परावीन्द कुमार जुग्नौथ on 25th December 1961) is a former Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister of Mauritius. He is the son of incumbent President and former Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth and Sarojini Jugnauth.

He was trained in law in the United Kingdom before entering into his father's political party, the Militant Socialist Movement and in 2003, took over as became the leader after his father's retirement.

Achievements

Agriculture

As Minister of Agriculture (from 7 September 2000 to 7 October 2003), Jugnauth presented the Sugar Sector Strategic Plan and manned the reform process in the sugar sector to ensure its the long-term viability and competitiveness. He initiated the process to convert the sugar industry from relying almost exclusively on the production of sugar into a fully diversified sugar cane industry with emphasis on the production of ethanol, agricultural rhum, special sugars, electricity generation from bagasse and other high value added products. After these reforms, the sugar sector has been able to bring down its production costs significantly and better face the challenges stemming from the reduction in the guaranteed sugar price under the Sugar Protocol with the European Union.

While working on the reforms in the Sugar Sector, he succeeded in negotiating a package for workers under the Voluntary Retirement Scheme. Some 8,000 workers who opted for voluntary retirement received cash compensation exceeding 2.5 billion rupees and some 825 arpents of land worth 3 billion rupees.

Jugnauth also manned reforms in the non-sugar agricultural sector by placing non-sugar agriculture on the path of modernisation and sophistication. He encouraged hydroponics and other modern methods of production while at the same time strived for excellence in agricultural biotechnology research and expertise in the field. He initiated actions to set up a National Agricultural Biotechnology Institute and Food Technology Laboratory in Mauritius; he later launched the Small Planters Welfare Fund. The fund caters for the welfare of planters and their families and provides crop insurance schemes designed to financially support planters whose crops are affected by unfavourable weather conditions.

On the international scene, Jugnauth was spokesman for the ACP Sugar Group. The European Union was convinced to postpone the reform of its sugar regime from 2001 to 2006 and showed the European Commission and World Trade Organisation the importance of preferential and differential treatment for small, vulnerable countries.

Finance

As Minister of Finance (from 7 October 2003 to 5 July 2005), Jugnauth reduced taxes on thousands of commodities. He also increased subsidies on basic commodities and gave salary compensations well above inflation rates in two successive years.

Jugnauth launched a project to make of Mauritius a Duty Free Island.

Family Life

Pravind Jugnauth married Kobita Ramdanee in 1992 and is the father of three daughters: Sonika, Sonali and Sara.