Rishi Ram (born 17 August 1947) is a

Fiji Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...

civil servant The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

and former

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

of Indian descent. From 2007 to 2009 he was Chairman of the

Public Service Commission Public Service Commission may refer to: * Public utilities commission ** Alabama Public Service Commission ** Public Service Commission (Indiana) ** Public Service Commission of Utah ** Public Utilities Commission of Ohio ** Public Utilities Com ...

. He was the first ethnic Indian to head the PSC. Ram served as Deputy Secretary of the PSC from June 1990 to April 1993. He was Secretary for Women and Multi-Ethnic Affairs from 1993 to 1994, and for Urban Housing and Development from 1994 to 2001, when he served briefly as

Ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, until 2002. He served again as Secretary for Women from 2002 to 2004.

Early life

Ram was born in Ba in 1952 and attended St Teresa's Primary School and Khalsa Secondary School. In 1966 he moved to

Suva Suva (, ) is the Capital city, capital and the most populous city of Fiji. It is the home of the country's largest metropolitan area and serves as its major port. The city is located on the southeast coast of the island of Viti Levu, in Rew ...

and started his public service career as a clerical officer with the Ministry of Primary Industries. He started studying for his

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree from the

University of the South Pacific The University of the South Pacific (USP) is a public research university with locations spread throughout a dozen countries in Oceania. Established in 1968, the university is organised as an intergovernmental organisation and is owned by the gov ...

in 1985, as a part-time student and graduated in 1995, majoring in management and sociology. He is married to Sarla and has two daughters and a son.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ram, Rishi 1947 births Living people Fijian people of Indian descent People from Ba (town) Fijian civil servants University of the South Pacific alumni Ambassadors of Fiji to Japan People from Suva