“BPP allotment of flats”

I fully support the views expressed by Behram Aga in his letter "BPP allotments of flats” (Readers’ Forum, Parsiana, February 7, 2009). It is obvious that the present board of trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP), barring Noshir Dadrawala, under instructions of present chairman Dinshaw Mehta is trying to harass those applicants who approached the Charity Commissioner and got relief from him. They refuse to implement the decision taken by the former trustees, forgetting that even parliament honors bills passed by an outgoing parliament.

The present set of trustees has published an article on the WAPIZ (World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis) Page of the Free Press Journal dated February 6, 2009 giving reasons for objecting to certain applicants under some pretext or the other. The objection in the case of one applicant is "Married to non-Parsi.” I request the WAPIZ to please let me know how many such cases already exist in baugs and colonies where spouses of non-Parsis are already occupying flats. In case memory fails them, may I draw their attention to the fact that that even the present chairman had allegedly allotted a flat to his sister (prior to her mariage) to a Muslim? Are there different rules for different people?

Another objection is "Migrated to foreign country.” If the person is employed outside India does that mean his family does not deserve a decent dwelling in Bombay? There are several families staying in baugs and colonies whose members reside abroad. In one instance, the past trustees allotted a flat in Godrej Baug to an applicant who has been settled abroad for over 30 years. The reason for this is nothing but commercialization of charity. The community would like to know why there are different criteria for different people.

The other objection forwarded by WAPIZ is financial soundness of the applicant. No doubt this is a valid reason. But please let me know whether Maneck Davar is so poor as to deserve a flat in a Parsi baug. I never knew that Yazdi Desai, the present trustee, who happens to be a WAPIZ candidate, is so poor as to have a flat in a BPP baug. (Daver and Desai paid the market value for the flats — editors.) I would like to remind Desai that it was a WAPIZ promise in their election manifesto to declare the assets of their candidates if they are elected. I think Khojeste Mistree and Desai have forgotten their promise. If they had declared their assets then possibly my objection to the BPP’s allotment of a flat to Desai may not have been valid if he should be below the poverty line.

It is also surprising that these objections are being raised after the applicants have been given letters of allotment. I fail to understand why such scrutiny was not made earlier when the applications were received by the BPP.

I request the trustees (excluding Dadrawala) to enlighten the community regarding what yardstick is applied while objecting to allotments made to applicants — despite the above facts.

Also, since the BPP has announced trusteeship elections, I once again request them not to hold the election without any code of conduct. All candidates must insist upon a code of conduct.

HOMI DALAL

homidalal@rediffmail.com