Minister for Women, Children and Poverty Alleviation Mereseini Vuniwaqa says she is very pleased for the initiative where pensioners and Fijians living with a disability travel for free in buses.
The Ministry has received a total budget of $133 million, which has increased by $19.8 million.
Vuniwaqa says now the responsibility is on them, the Permanent Secretary and the Ministry to ensure that the budget is put to the use that its been given for and that the benefit does flow down to those who actually need it.
She says she had no doubt that the Permanent Secretary is ready to do that work with the team at the Ministry.
Vuniwaqa says apart from the increase in maternity leave , she wants paternity leave highlighted over and over again. She says that is very critical for the nation which is a recognition of the role that men play in the unpaid care economy.
She says this area has always been reserved for women. She says she wants Fijian men to take up that critical role.
