‘BOMBAY PARSI PUNCHAYET DOESN’T NEED DIRTY POLITICS’

(53) who is contesting the upcoming Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP) elections in July, is the Chief Executive Officer of the World Alliance of Parsi Irani Zarthoshtis (WAPIZ). It is an organisation with over 5300 Parsi members. She is a trustee of Sodawaterwalla Agiary and Machi Trust and has been involved in community affairs for more than 15 years. Anahita, wife of Yazdi Desai, Chairman of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet, is passionate about preserving and protecting the community’s traditions, beliefs, institutions and way of life. In a freewheeling chat with KAINAZ CHOKSEY, Anahita talks about her decision to contest the BPP elections, Parsi politics and much more. Excerpts from the interview...

Why have you decided to contest the upcoming BPP elections?

I have always been interested in the BPP. I have been involved in the BPP since the time my husband Yazdi became a trustee in 2008. So, I know the staff and the workings of this organisation. I know its strengths and weaknesses. I think I would make a difference by being in the organisation. There are no big plans like ‘Oh! I will make so many flats or I will do this and that’. I think there is a lot that needs to be done in the working of the BPP and how we deal with beneficiaries. I think that is basically what I would like to be there for.

What do you consider to be your strength if you win the BPP elections?

My strength is knowing the organisation extremely well. As I said, I know the staff, the departments and the workings of the BPP. I have been working at the ground level and interact a lot with the community members. I am the CEO of an organisation called WAPIZ. I can relate to the problems of the people. I know what people need and what is required in the BPP. My interaction with the community at the grassroot level is very strong. The feedback that I get from the community, I think that is my strength — of knowing the aspirations of the community members.

What according to you are the aspirations of the community members from the BPP?

I think the community wants transparency within the BPP. The present Board has been publishing the BPP Connect, a periodic magazine, to inform the community members regarding its workings. There is transparency to a certain extent but I think people need more of it. People do write emails which are not answered. We do not even have a proper email address for people to shoot their problems. That is one thing that we need to definitely work on. We need to have more meetings with people in the baugs. Most of the candidates say a lot during election meetings that more meetings and interactions will take place with the common people. But the staff does not go to meet people in baugs to see what problems they are facing. There is no follow up in the organisation. There are certain decisions that are passed by the Board but there is no implementation since there is no proper system in place. For example, a few years ago, people had complained of faulty water metres. The BPP had promised that the faulty water metres will be checked and replaced. But that never happened. There are a lot of other examples where things are not moving, not because the BPP doesn’t want to, but there is no system to get things done.

How do you plan to communicate with the community and bridge the gap?

I think being accessible to the community is very important. The present board is accessible where a couple of trustees have been meeting the common public. But reaching out to the community is not done to a greater extent. I would really like to do it. I would like to go to a person, address and fix their problems. For example, if somebody has a leakage problem in the house, nobody really goes there to inspect. They would only ask the concerned department to get the roof done, call for the photographs and get the estimation of the cost. But not many times does someone go there physically. Most of the people in the community are working. You cannot expect them to devote that kind of time to do the ground work. For example, if the gutter and gullies are overflowing, a little follow up from trustees by visiting the site would be 100 times more effective than sitting in the office and instructing the staff to do the same.

Which are the key areas that require improvement in community services?

The BPP had started a lot of schemes. For example, the MOBED scheme (scheme for the priests) which was started three years ago for full-time mobeds to give them Rs10,000 per month. Somehow, the finances don’t match the scheme. There are a lot of shortfalls from what is decided to the process of implementation. We have not paid the mobeds under the scheme for the last one year. We have not stopped the scheme but as and when we get the finances, we help people. I think we need to be more pro-active. We need to approach other trusts and philanthropists for the existing schemes. We need to bridge that gap between the BPP and what the beneficiaries want. We can approach big trusts who have their objectives of helping mobeds and they could bring donors. These are the kind of things that would really help. This will also help the image of the BPP which has really gone down over the years due to politics. It has become a universal adult franchise along with being a political office. Naturally, with that a lot of dirty politics has come in. Police complaints against trustees and financial impropriety by the previous chairman of the board have marred the organistiaon’s image. The community does not have that trust in the BPP which they had three to four decades ago. It is important to bring back that trust. Also, the BPP is more or less sidelined by the government agencies. Despite being the apex body of the community, we do not push ourselves. The BPP is not having a connect with the government. For example, in Delhi, the Delhi Anjuman co-ordinates with the government agencies. The BPP has got a very good Joint Deputy CEO, Shernaz Khambhatta. For the first time, we have started having a rapport with the Municipality staff and the Charitable Commissioner. We should wish government officials on Diwali and give them sweets on our community festivals to develop a good rapport, so that whenever we want any work to be done, it will not be a difficult task. We are totally lacking at it at the moment. There should be a connection with the local police and the Municipal Corporators of the wards. If there is a problem in any Parsi colony/baugs, we can call up the authorities to fix it. The Corporators get our internal roads of the colonies done. But that rapport is only with the colony associations.

Do you have any proposals for such implementations?

I do not have any blue print but these are ideas that can be implemented. We have started the ball rolling but we need to do more of it. On Maharashtra Day, the BPP can send a congratulatory letter to the governor. We do not do these things which show the goodwill of the community. If something is being done by the Corporators for the Parsi colonies, no letter of appreciation has gone from the BPP.

What is your message to the community?

People should not believe everything that is said and written. They should verify whether what is being written is right or wrong. Absolute lies have been written during elections in the past. The future of the community depends a lot on the BPP trustees. We need good people inside and not those who simply play dirty politics.