Save the Tehmulji Nursing Home in Mumbai

This is with reference to the article in the Times of India recently stating that the Tehmulji Nursing Home or the Parsi Lying-in Hospital is up for sale. The reason given is that there are just not enough people utilizing it and it is defunct. While this is not surprising, what is very surprising is that the persons concerned are thinking of selling it off instead of putting it to good use for the Zoroastrian community.

Why can't this Nursing home be converted to an Old People's Home? If a maternity hospital is not the need of the hour for our community, surely an old people's home is? There would be any number of elderly community members who would welcome the chance to live with dignity in a decent home where their needs would be taken care of. There could be separate wings for different economic sections of our community. There could also be a section where married couples could be allowed to stay together instead of the usual segregation into a ladies wing and a gents wing. Also, if the lower floor is rented out to retail outlets, the income from this would be enough to sustain and run the entire Home. Maybe the house of Tatas would show interest in taking up the space for one of their many retail ventures.

We, therefore, appeal to the Bombay Parsi Panchayat to pay heed to this matter and take urgent action to prevent the sale from taking place before it's too late. This kind of property, once gone, can never be brought back. The money obtained from this sale would last only so long and would be over before you know it. It's reasonable to say that the property is priceless in terms of the high value of its property rates as well as the service it can provide to our aging community.

We urge the Parsi Panchayat to

1) Explore the options available to completely rehabilitate the building and adapt the usage.

2) Invite proposals from members of the community to use the buildings for business ventures that will combine some elements of the points raised above with commercial ventures.

3) If the building has to be sold off, and the Parsi Panchayat does not want to d anything with it, invite tenders from Parsi organisations or people and give them preference.