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Born on the 29th of March 1930 at Palma , Sir Anerood Jugnauth married Sarojini Ballah and is the father of two children.
He had his primary education at Palma Primary School and had his secondary education at Regent College . He taught for some time at New Eton College and later worked as a clerk in the Poor Law Department for some time before being transferred to the Judicial Department. In 1951, he left Mauritius for the UK to study law. He was called to the Bar in 1954 after his law studies at Lincoln 's Inn, London .
In 1964, he was elected Chairman of the Palma Village Council. He was first elected to parliament as an Independent Forward Block (IFB) candidate in the constituency of Rivière du Rempart in 1963.
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He joined the All Mauritius Hindu Congress in 1965. State Minister for Development in the governement of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam from 1965 to 1966, he was promoted Minister of Labour in November 1966. He took part in the 'London Constitutional Conference' on Mauritius '. He resigned from his office in April 1967.
Anerood Jugnauth served as a magistrate shortly after his resignation. In 1969, he was promoted to the Crown Law Office. In 1971, he was made Senior Crown Counsel.
IIn the beginning of the 70's, Anerood Jugnauth joined the Mouvement Militant Mauricien (MMM). He became the president and subsequently the leader of the party. Re-elected at the general election held in 1976 in the constituency of Piton/Rivière du Rempart, he served as Leader of the Opposition from December 1976 to June 1982.
The Prime Minister
Swept to power in 1982 in a dramatic election in which his MMM-PSM alliance won an unprecedented 60-0, i.e every single seat in the Legislative Assembly, the new Prime Minister faced a seemingly impossible task : the country was wrecked by chronic unemployment, rapidly rising inflation and the infinite expectations of a volatile and highly politicised electorate. All this was set against the background of the island's potentially explosive melting pot of different races, cultures and religions, drawn from three continents.
Within months of his election victory, he saw his massive and unassailable majority collapsing before his eyes as his political party (MMM) tore itself apart through bitter in-fighting over personality and policy.
Yet, Jugnauth, the British-trained barrister from a humble rural Hindu background, not only survived, but against all expectations, snatched victory out of sure defeat, rode out political scandals that would have wrecked the career of most politicians and went on to lead his country into a new era of prosperity and stability. He presided over the country's rapid industrialisation, the Mauritian 'economic miracle' which is the envy of so many countries in the world today.
The Founder of the MSM
Jugnauth founded the Mouvement Socialiste Militant (MSM) on the 8th of April 1983 after the MMM/PSM alliance broke.
Re-elected at the general elections held on the 23rd of August 1983, Anerood Jugnauth once more served as Prime Minister. At the general elections held on the 15th of September 1991, he was once more elected and continued to serve as Prime Minister.
After he lost the general elections held on the 20th of December 1995, he resigned as Prime Minister. From December 1995 to September 2000, he reorganised the structures of the MSM.
Although the MSM was not in power during that period, most of the projects implemented were either conceived or initiated by the Government of Sir Anerood Jugnauth.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth stood as candidate at the by-election held in constituency No. 9 (Flacq/Bon Acceuil) in April 1998 but was defeated. He immediately initiated the idea of an MSM/MMM federation which eventually took shape in January 1999. However, the Federation was dissolved after the defeat of its candidate at the by-election held on the 19th of September 1999.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth founded the MSM/MMM Alliance together with Paul Bérenger, leader of the MMM, on the 14th of August 2000, based on equal sharing of power. At the general elections held on the 11th of September 2000, he is elected as first member of constituency No 7 (Piton/Rivière du Rempart) and was appointed as Prime Minister.
Sir Anerood Jugnauth resigned as Prime Minister on the 30th of September 2003 and was sworn on as President of the Republic of Mauritius on the 7th of October 2003.
Family Life
Sir Anerood married Sarojini Ballah on the 18th of December 1957 and he is the father of two children: Shalini (now Mrs. Malhotra) and Pravind (former Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Finance and Economic Development). He is the grand father of five grandchildren: Anusha, Divya, Sonika, Sonali and Sara.
He was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth the Second in 1990.
The following distinctions were also conferred upon Sir Anerood :
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Docteur Honoris Causa de l'Université d'Aix-en-Provence (March 1985)
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Doctor of Civil Law (Honoris Causa) from the University of Mauritius (May 1985)
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L'Ordre du Soleil Levant du Japon (January 1988)
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Grand Officier de l'Ordre de la Légion d'Honneur - France (March 1990)
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Grand Prix de l'Ordre de la Pléiade (1984)
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Achievements
The history of Mauritius will retain forever the various achievements of Sir Anerood Jugnauth and the MSM.This is just a reminder of some of the achievements which are visible everywhere in the country.
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Restructured the Mauritian economy, paving the way for the « economic miracle » : from acute unemployment in the early 80's to full employment in the mid 80's and 90's.
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Introduction of friendly policies to attract foreign investors (set up the MEDIA).
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Transformation from a monocrop-based economy to a newly industrialised economy. Put Mauritius on the path to become a cyber island).
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Development of the Tourism Industry.
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Creation of new pillars of the economy : the Stock Exchange of Mauritius, the Offshore Business Centre, the Mauritius Freeport and an international financial services centre.
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Helped the growth of small & medium industries (setting up of SMIDO).
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Modernisation of the country's principal gateways, namely the new SSR International Airport and the development and transformation of our port into a modern regional maritime platform.
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Development of modern road network across the island, including Phoenix - La Vigie Highway , the Pamplemousses/Grand Baie road and the Saint-Jean fly-over.
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Construction of several new primary and secondary schools.
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Construction of the Anjalay Stadium, the Maryse Justin Stadium and new Youth Centres.
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Development of the new complex of the University of Mauritius .
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Rapid expansion of the Telecommunications sector.
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Major development in the energy sector, especially water supply.
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Construction of low-cost houses.
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Improving the education sector be it pre-primary, primary, secondary or tertiary.
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Setting up of a new ministry to promote manpower training (the IVTB saw day light).
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Promotion and development of arts and culture.
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Decentralisation of Health care through the setting up of Primary Health Care Centres, Community Health Centres and Area Health Centres.
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Consolidation of the social welfare system.
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Setting up of various legislations or amendments to existing legislations to eliminate all forms of discrimination against women.
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Creation of the right conditions to help women to have a greater share in the socio-economic development of the country.
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Introduction of appropriate legislation to protect the environment.
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Ensuring the overall development of the co-operative sector.
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Implementation of agricultural diversification.
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Introduction of several incentives for the fishing community.
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Formulation of irrigation development strategy.
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Implementation of several incentives for small planters (duty free vehicles, etc.)
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Implementation of several projects for efficient field mechanisation among small planters, namely :
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The Prime Minister's National Derocking Scheme
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The consolidation of small farmer lands into more viable units such as LAMUS (Land Area Management Units).
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Replication of Farmers Service Centres operating under the Farmer's Service Corporation in all factory areas
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Credit schemes for small farmers for field derocking, mechanisation and replanting
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Incentives given to agriculture producers under the Agricultural Development Certificates Scheme
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Setting up of the Sugar Investment Trust.
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Setting up of the National Development Unit to enable infrastructural development in both rural and urban regions.
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A network of Citizens Advice Bureaux (CAB) was set up to advise the population on various matters relating to administrative procedures.
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Promotion of an integrated development in Rodrigues. Various sectors were developed : agriculture and livestock.
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Jugnauth - Father of the Mauritian Miracle
The level of economic and social development achieved by the successive MSM-led governments during the period 1983-1995 and September 2000 to date under the leadership of Sir Anerood Jugnauth had been spectacular and led to a new era of prosperity and stability - Mauritius has become the "economic tiger of the Indian Ocean ".
A comparison of the social and economic indicators of 1983 versus 2001 indicates the tremendous progress achieved under Jugnauth's farsighted leadership.
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1983 |
2001 |
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GDP Growth Rate (%) |
0,4 |
5,8 |
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GDP at market prices (in Rs m) |
12 763 |
131 835 |
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Unemployment Rate (%) |
19,7 |
9,2 |
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Inlfation rate (in 1982) |
11,4 |
5,4 |
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Tourist arrivals
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123 820 |
660 300 |
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Total exports (fob) in Rs m |
4 637 |
46 355 |
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Total imports (cif) in Rs m |
5 175 |
58 115 |
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Number of telephone lines 45 456 |
45 456 |
306 800 |
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Number of television sets |
95 063 |
235 400 |