Several Parsi families that were allotted flats by former trustees of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) this year have now been put on the waiting list again. On Friday, they were present at the Charity Commissioner’s office to put forward their case in the presence of the commissioner and BPP trustee Rustom Tirandaz. “I was allotted a flat at a complex in Goregaon in September. After the new trustees have been elected, I have been removed from the list,” says Ruzbeh Satarawalla.
Many of the complainants explained how they were genuinely in desperate need of flats and had been waiting for years now. Some elderly citizens at the meet said that they were being sidelined, while young couples, ready to start a family were given priority over them.
According to Tirandaz, in all probability, people who had been allotted flats by the earlier trustees would be reconsidered. “We would want to know some facts about these people and their income before making any decision.”
Kersi Randheria of the Alert Zoroastrian Association believes that the truly deserving will be sidelined again as some of the new trustees were all set to prolong the case.
“Some of the people here are old and sick. Why trouble them like this?” he asks pointing to the families that had gathered. “There are poor widows and single parents who are living in bad conditions. Aren’t they more deserving than middle-class couples who are earning well?” Kersi is representing several Parsi families that belong to low-income groups.
Many felt that young couples are being given priority so that they can have a secure future and in turn procreate, helping the cause of the dwindling Parsi population.
Jehangir Irani was shocked when he was asked to get married in order to get a house.
“These are just excuses. Everyone knows that money is being exchanged and flats will again be sold at discounted rates,” he said.
A visibly disappointed Dara Kerawala didn’t know how many more trips he would have to make to get a house of his own. His application card is tattered, discoloured and dated 1982. Life hasn’t been easy for him as he has been forced to live in his son-in-law’s house. NV Deshmukh, Joint Commissioner of Charity asked the BPP to consider the case of Kerawala and the 100 other families that were allotted homes by the former trustees.
original article here.
