Mehta for minorities

Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) chairman Dinshaw Mehta has been appointed Parsi member of the State Minorities Commission by the government of Maha-rashtra vide a notification dated July 30, 2009, according to a press release sent to Parsiana by the BPP. This seat had remained unoccupied for the past three years.

Mehta, who has completed 15 years as BPP trustee, has been elected thrice — in July 1994, June 2001 and October 2008, the last, a historic election where for the first time under the universal adult franchise scheme the entire community elected a full board of seven trustees.

Dinshaw Mehta: appointed to represent Parsis

Mehta’s father Rusi was one of the longest serving municipal corporators, after whose death while still in office his brother Noshir took up the mantle and served for three terms. At present sister Anahita is a corporator.

An engineer by training, Mehta earned his BChem in engineering from the prestigious Bombay University’s Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT). He later completed his Masters degree from the same institute before joining the family business of foundry, flour mills and real estate. As chairman of Pathare Real Estate and Developers Limited he was involved in the reclamation, paving and infrastruc­tural work for P&O Ports, Australia, at India’s first private port, the Nhava Sheva International Container Terminal in the Jawaharlal Nehru Port near Uran. The press release indicates that another of his interests is horse breeding and he was a partner in a stud farm previously.

Mehta is married to Pansy (née Engineer) and they have three sons, Viraf, Hormuz and Darayus.