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A grant of one crore rupees (USD 120,670) for strengthening the teaching of the Avesta language; support for the Empowering Mobeds scheme of the World Zoroastrian Organisation Trusts (WZOT); medical aid for families of priests, were among the largesse pledged by union minister for minority affairs (and women and child development) Smriti Irani at a meeting with representatives of various anjumans from all over India. The "interactive” session was convened by erstwhile Parsi Zoroastrian representative on the National Commission for Minorities Dastur Khurshed Dastoor on October 30, 2022 at the Dadar Athornan Institute (DAI). Dastoor’s notice of October 17 stated that Irani "is keenly interested in taking an appraisal of the current situation within the community and would like you all to contribute towards the projects she has in mind for the community.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

As stated Irani at the start of the meeting, "Many are wondering what the meeting has been called for… I believe in a democracy it is the government’s responsibility to initiate talk… This is not the first or the last (of such meetings),” she stated. Many people have written separately or visited her at her home in Delhi seeking solutions to their problems, she explained.
Support for the community will be individual-oriented. "Everyone thinks the government support is only for the Jiyo Parsi program… We need to identify who needs help… The money must go directly to individuals… No advertisements in newspapers.” The minister referred to scholarships from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1,00,000 for undergraduate and graduate students. "How many students are aware of this?” she asked.  
"How many of our young people know about our culture?… How, for instance, do we institutionalize our crafts and our cooking, and our garas?… How can we support anyone doing their doctorate in these fields? We can support schools where our heritage is being preserved,” she stated.
Referring to the longstanding demand of the community, spearheaded by Dastoor, to have the Flying Ranee train stop at Udvada, the minister stated that to have this done 18 trains would need to be rescheduled. The railway minister has assured Irani that when there are additional lines the train will indeed halt at Udvada. "Meanwhile Rs 20 crores has been approved for escalators at the station… I am sure there will be other places of pilgrimage (that need better infrastructure),” stated the minister.
The minister let on that Dastoor often told her "Tu BJP ma chhè taro su faaydo [You are in the (ruling) Bharatiya Janata Party… how will you help us?”] to get projects completed for the village that houses the Iranshah. Irani stated that Udvada got its police station in 2016 thanks to her efforts. "I brought up the matter of celebrating Navroz in the Rajya Sabha for the first time,” she added.
Vice chairman of National Commission for Minorities Kersi Deboo was present at the meeting.

 

"Our own community”
In his benediction on behalf of the Athornan Mandal, DAI principal Ervad (Dr) Ramiyar Karanjia recited an Avestan prayer: "We pray that all good people have a happy, healthy, life… May they be able to overcome obstacles… (and) achieve honor and glory for their country.”
In his welcome address, Dastoor referred to Irani as "from our own community.” She is married to a Parsi agriculturist from Dahanu, Zubin, and is the mother of three Parsi children. He enumerated the projects spearheaded by the minister — roads, sturdier electrical connections, drainage system, the creation of a lake and finally the gates installed at the time of the last Iranshah Udvada Utsav. "It is for us to take advantage of her presence,” he stated.  Quoting the words of Dadi Mistry, former Zoroastrian member of the National Commission for Minorities, Dastoor stated: "Whether we wish to survive or not depends on us.”
Referring to Jam-e-Jamshed, Parsi Times and Parsiana, Irani stated that "My proposal is that we carry out advocacy through these three publications… Correct information must go to the community… Can we look at better communication tools?  
"My government will be more than happy to do anything (required by the community) within the tenets of the law… I hope this interaction has been productive for the community.”
Felicitations with flowers, shawls et al for Irani from the anjumans present followed, chief among them being Bombay, Surat, Bulsar, Dahanu, Sanjan, Belgaum, Delhi and Baroda. It was difficult to keep track who was felicitating the minister in the melee that ensued. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Community needs
Five individuals were called upon to speak: dramatist and Padma Shri Yazdi Karanjia; secretary of the Athornan Mandal that Dastoor leads, Ervad Cyrus Darbari; chairman of WZOT Dinshaw Tamboly; founder of XYZ (Xtremely Young Zoroastrians) Hoshaang Gotla; founder of Zoroastrian Women’s Assembly of Surat Maharukh Chichgar (Karanjia’s daughter).
Yazdi Karanjia heaped lavish praise on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Irani, especially their leadership and their efforts at unity. Making a plea for overlooking small transgressions, the humorist stated: "Family ni nani babato moti karrsho to family nanu thatu jashé (if you focus on petty family matters, the family’s size reduces).” An advocate of patience, tolerance and taking a grander view (sabr, bardasht and nazarandaz), Karanjia stated "it is important to create heaven on earth… That is real humata, hukhta, hvarashta,.” 
Darbari stated that the Bombay University has offered Avesta as a subject since 1888. When the program was suddenly stopped, study of the language was made part of its distance education scheme. The Sir J. J. Zarthosti Madresssa offers a five-year course under the auspices of the Bombay Parsi Punchayet (BPP). The minister was quick in her response. "The government is happy to provide one crore rupees right now through the ministry of information and technology… Let us look at this school” for the furtherance of the language, she stated, adding that the Indian Institutes of Technology, either Delhi or Bombay will assist in digitization efforts. "Build capacity to run these programs,” she advised.
Tamboly painted a grim picture of poverty in the community and the work done by WZOT to alleviate it. Overall, the dependency ratio in the community is 4:1 he stated, explaining that one earning member supports four others. Tamboly’s trusts support retired full-time mobeds and their widows, some of whom are living in abject poverty, he stated. Commenting on the shortage of mobeds, he stated that only 250 mobeds are below the age of 60. "Your proposals for assistance to mobeds (via WZOT’s Empowering Mobeds scheme) will be fully supported by the government,” stated Irani. "If there is any farmer who needs seeds, fertilizers, we will be happy to assist… We will be glad to provide medical aid to families of mobeds.”
Gotla’s overview of the activities of XYZ drew compliments from the minister. "I wish I knew about your activities when my children were growing up,” she stated. "It is wonderful that you look at all age groups.” XYZ focuses on giving children a holistic approach to life. Their sessions are a mix of fun and games and learning. Her advice was that XYZ should go nationwide with governmental support. "Identify your needed skill sets,” she advised Gotla. Can we not do a Parsi version of Khelo India, she asked rhetorically, referring to Khelo India Youth Games, the annual national level multidisciplinary grassroots games in India held in January or February.   
 Chichgar’s overview of the work done by ZWAS in "bringing two ends of the spectrum (the senior citizens and the youth) together in Surat” drew encouragement from Irani. A cultural organization, the Assembly conducts competitive events for children throughout the year. They periodically bring out a directory of residents of the diamond city. "This is an opportunity to congregate under one umbrella,” a federation of women of sorts, she opined. She reminded the audience that there is an allocation for the safety and security of women and children in terms of public transport, funding for closed circuit television cameras in public places. The government is strengthening support for women via one-stop help centers across all districts for women.
There was no spokesperson for the BPP. "We were not asked or told…We were only told that the minister was going to address the anjumans,” BPP trustee Xerxes Dastur told Parsiana.
The seven BPP trustees present (Armaity Tirandaz, Anahita Desai, Hoshang Jal, Viraf Mehta,  Maharukh Noble, Adil Malia and Dastur) did, however, go into a huddle with the minister and the secretary for minorities Mukhmitsingh Bhatia after the formal part of the meeting was over.
Parsiana requested chairwoman Tirandaz for a statement on the interaction with the minister. She responded that the trustees would get back shortly.
Xerxes told Parsiana it was "a good interaction… The minister is aware of the BPP and its responsibilities… We are looking forward to greater collaboration with the government in resolving some of the issues affecting the community… Not just financial but efforts in preserving our unique culture and heritage…. We would like to take forward and work with the ministry in bringing the various government programs in women’s empowerment, entrepreneurship, educational loans, etc and ensure that our community also takes advantage of the various programs.”
Ramiyar Karanjia’s vote of thanks was telling: About the minister’s listening mode, and her immediate offering of solutions, he stated, "I have not seen anything like this in my life.”