Jai Shree Gawander is a Fijian civil servant and former politician of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

descent. He was appointed the chief executive officer of the Sugar Cane Growers Council on 31 March 2007. He was previously a member of the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

and research manager at the Sugarcane Research Centre in Lautoka, Fiji.

Sugarcane research

Gawander rose to prominence because of his research on plant nutrition, sugarcane agronomy and general management of sugarcane research in Fiji and the transfer of this information and technology to 23,000 sugar cane growers. He also carried out research on the extent of climate change and its impact on sugar cane production and the loss of soil and nutrients from the undulating cane areas due to erosion and surface run off. He has been a member of Fiji Institute of Technology and a member of International Society for Sugar Technologist. In March 2005, he chaired a workshop on "Raising Awareness on Linking Climate Forecasting and Decision Making Practices for the Fiji Sugar Industry".

Political involvement

In the 2006 general election, he was the

Fiji Labour Party The Fiji Labour Party (FLP; fj, Ilawalawa Cakacaka ni Viti), also known as Fiji Labour, is a political party in Fiji. Most of its support is from the Indo-Fijian community, although it is officially multiracial and its first leader was an i ...

candidate for the Lautoka City Indian Communal Constituency, previously held by

Ganesh Chand Dr. Ganeshwar Chand, better known as Ganesh Chand, is a Fijian academic and former politician of Indian descent. His is Vice-Chancellor of Solomon Islands National University. He was a founder of the University of Fiji and serves as a trustee of t ...

and he won easily by getting 80% of the votes cast.

CEO of Sugar Cane Growers Council

On 31 March 2007, he was appointed the chief executive officer of the Fiji Sugar Cane Growers Council, replacing

Jagannath Sami Jagannath Sami has been a soccer player representing a premier district side in the Fiji Football Association competitions, a leader of the sugar mill workers, a leader of a farmers' union, a politician and chief executive officer of the Sugar ...

who was sacked in January for alleged mismanagement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawander, Jai Fijian trade unionists Fiji sugar industry Fiji Labour Party politicians Indian members of the House of Representatives (Fiji) Fijian Hindus Living people Politicians from Lautoka Year of birth missing (living people)