Vasant Kumar Bunwaree (born वसन्त कुमर बुन्वरी on 7 April 1947) is a former Cabinet Minister of

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label= Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It ...

. He is more commonly known as ''Vasant Bunwaree''.

Early life, education & medical career

After completing his secondary education at

Royal College Port Louis The Royal College Port Louis (RCPL) is an academy in Cassis, Mauritius. It is regarded as one of the most prestigious secondary schools in Mauritius. Originally founded in 1799 during the French colonial period, the first stone of the school's ...

he worked as principal and teacher of private secondary school ''Collège Idéal'' in Rivière du Rempart for two years. He then studied medicine in France at the University of Bordeaux II and was appointed "Docteur en Medicine" in 1977. He later specialised and obtained the "Certificat d'Edudes spéciales en maladies cardiovasculaires" in 1981. He also hold diplomas in Tropical Medicine as well as Human Cytogenetics. In 1982 he joined the government service as the first Specialist in Cardiology with the Ministry of Health and was posted to Victoria Hospital, Mauritius. As Cardiologist, Dr. Bunwaree was responsible for the setting up of a full-fledged ICU and Diagnostic Cardiac Unit at the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam National Hospital in view of starting permanent cardiac surgery centre in Mauritius.

Political career

Vasant Bunwaree's political career started in April 1987 when the Prime Minister Anerood Jugnauth announced by-elections in Constituencies 12 (Mahébourg-Plaine-Magnien) and 13 (Rivière-des-Anguilles-Souillac). Jugnauth presented Vasant Bunwaree and socio-cultural activist Dhandeo Bahadoor of the Human Service Trust as candidates of the

Militant Socialist Movement The Militant Socialist Movement (french: Mouvement Socialiste Militant; abbreviated MSM) is a centre-left political party in Mauritius. It is the largest single political party in the National Assembly of Mauritius, winning 42 of the 69 seats in ...

(MSM). However these by-elections were not held as General Elections were held in August 1987, as a result of which Bunwaree was elected in Constituency No.12. He later joined the

Mauritian Labour Party The Labour Party (french: Parti Travailliste, PTr) is a centre-left social-democratic political party in Mauritius. It is one of four main Mauritian political parties along, with the Mauritian Militant Movement (MMM), the Militant Socialist Mo ...

where he served as the

Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...

and Secretary General. Dr. Bunwaree was also elected as a

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...

in 1991, 1995, 2005 and 2010 in Constituency No 12, Mahebourg and Plaine Magnien. He was Minister of Education from 13 September 2008 to December 2014. He had previously held the office of

Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", ...

from November 1996 to September 2000 and also

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

from 2005 to 2008.

References

Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bunwaree, Vasant 1947 births Living people Ministers of Finance of Mauritius Education ministers of Mauritius Industry ministers of Mauritius Labour ministers of Mauritius Members of the National Assembly (Mauritius) Mauritian cardiologists Militant Socialist Movement politicians Labour Party (Mauritius) politicians Mauritian Hindus Mauritian politicians of Indian descent