Witness to history: Ahmedabad's Navneet C Shah worked with 26 mayors

When BJP’s Asit Vora was taking over as the 26th mayor of Ahmedabad last Sunday, there was one man who could not control his emotions. After all, octogenarian Navneet C Shah is a witness to history in the Gandhi Hall of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) over five decades. 

Shah reminisced about the time when he joined as a clerk in the AMC’s Congress office on March 9, 1955, a few months after Chinubhai Chimanbhai Sheth took over as the first mayor of Ahmedabad after India’s independence. Fifty five years down the line, Shah who is now the secretary in the Congress office has witnessed how the reigns have changed 25 times at the top post of the political wing in the state’s largest civic body.

Shah, who is fondly known as Navneet kaka in AMC, has seen the changing face of Ahmedabad. Whether it is handling the electoral preparations for Congress candidate Jaykrishna Harivallabh from Kalupur constituency in 1951 or handling the preparations for Congress candidate Narhari Amin from Sabarmati assembly constituency in 2001 —  Shah has done it all and seen it all.

He was also part of Maha Gujarat Movement in 1956. Harivallabh appointed him as secretary in AMC’s Congress office in 1961 after the party came to power again in the civic body.

“There were only 64 members (corporators) in AMC in 1961. The of number of corporators increased to 70 in 1965, to 91 in 1974,  to 129 in 1995, and now the AMC has 192 corporators,” Shah told DNA.

For Shah, serving the Congress office in AMC has been part of his life. The octogenarian who lives with his family in Paldi continues to provide honorary service in the office and guides Congress leaders in the AMC.     

Ask him to share his best experience in AMC and he recalls how smartly the city bosses in 1987 managed to raise Rs3 crore to build the first-ever sewer plant for Ahmedabad. “At that time, octroi was a major source of income for the civic body and it was collected as per weight of the products.

To raise Rs3 crore from octroi, a special committee was formed, discussion with traders’ bodies was held to chalk out a strategy to increase the income, and it was decided to charge octroi at higher rates. Within one and a half years, the civic body collected the required funds,” Shah remembers. He is quick to respond when asked about how he sees the change in corporators.

“Earlier, corporators showed commitment to the development of the city and if needed, they spent money from their pockets. Now, it is difficult to find this in corporators who are sometimes worried more about managing their wages than anything else. Politics is a business now and not a service to people,” he opines.