SUVA (Pacnews) — An academic at the University of the South Pacific says the state recognizes the suffering of the indigenous Fijians but ignores the poverty of Indo-Fijians.
Professor Subramani says there is no policy, charter or blueprint to make the lives of the hungry, disadvantaged, illiterate, homeless and landless Indo-Fijians better.
Subramani says there are no strong or influential lobby groups or committed spokesmen for the Indo-Fijian poor.
He says successive governments have found it easy to ignore the deprivation in the Indo-Fijian community because the subject does not fit in with the conventional view of Indo-Fijian affluence.
Subramani says policy makers generally work on assumptions they have inherited from their predecessors and rarely challenge them.
Subramani made the comments at a meeting of the government’s Indo-Fijian Advisory Council in Suva.
