Frank D'Souza (born in

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

) was the first Indian to be appointed member of the

Indian Railway Board The Ministry of Railways is a ministry in the Government of India, responsible for the country's rail transport. The ministry operates the statutory body Indian Railways, an organisation that operates as a monopoly in rail transport and is h ...

and the man who set up the

Pakistan Western Railway The Pakistan Western Railway ( ur, ) was one of two divisions of Pakistan Railways which operated between 1947 and 1971. The company was headquartered in Lahore.https://www.pakrail.gov.pk/AboutUs.aspx In 1971, Pakistan Western Railway renamed ...

after

Partition of India The Partition of British India in 1947 was the Partition (politics), change of political borders and the division of other assets that accompanied the dissolution of the British Raj in South Asia and the creation of two independent dominions: ...

in 1947.

Early life

D'Souza was born in Karachi, British India (now Pakistan). He was educated at

St Patrick's High School, Karachi , motto_translation = Through hardships to the stars , location = Saddar Town, Sindh , city = Karachi , province = , country = Pakistan , coordinates = , established = , found ...

. After finishing school with a Matriculation, Frank D'Souza started to work as a Railway Guard. He was a

self-made man "Self-made man" is a classic phrase coined on February 2, 1842 by Henry Clay in the United States Senate, to describe individuals whose success lay within the individuals themselves, not with outside conditions. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Foun ...

and educated himself over the years. In 1929 he was the first Indian to be appointed by the British as a Member of the Railway Board of India. In those days, The board controlling the railways was comprised the Chief Commissioner, a Financial Commissioner and three Members, one responsible for Way and Works, Projects and Stores one for General Administration and Staff and one for Traffic, Transportation & Commercial matters. All the Britishers on the Board were members of the Indian Civil Service (ICS), which was an exclusive institute. Frank D'Souza was neither an ICS officer nor a university graduate at the time, but was considered brilliant. During or after

WW1 World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

(1910s to 1930s), the British Indian Railways had reduced the number of Europeans from Europe and instead replaced them with resident (domiciled) Europeans, who were sons of railroad men, and Eurasians or Anglo-Indians. As a member of the Railway Board, in the 1930s, Frank D'Souza was appointed to investigate minority representation in the railways. His findings were reported in a paper titled "''Review of the Working of the Rules and Orders Relating to the Representation of Minority Communities in the Services of the State-managed Railways''" that was published in 1940. In this paper, he reported that most of the well-paid middle to senior level jobs in departments such as Traffic Department or Locomotive (Mechanical Engineering) Department were monopolized by resident Europeans and Eurasians.

Pakistan Railways

At the time of Partition, Frank D'Souza opted for India and because of the

Evacuee Property Law Evacuation or Evacuate may refer to: * Casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), patient evacuation in combat situations * Casualty movement, the procedure for moving a casualty from its initial location to an ambulance * Emergency evacuation, removal of pe ...

, which was established by both India and Pakistan, he lost his large property ' Maryville' in Karachi, Pakistan. In 1947,

Mohammad Ali Jinnah Muhammad ( ar, مُحَمَّد; 570 – 8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious, social, and political leader and the founder of Islam. According to Islamic doctrine, he was a prophet divinely inspired to preach and confirm the mono ...

, founder and the first Governor-General of Pakistan specifically requested Frank D'Souza to help in setting up the

Pakistan Railways Pakistan Railways ( ur, ) is the national, state-owned railway company of Pakistan. Founded in 1861 and headquartered in Lahore, it owns of track across Pakistan, stretching from Torkham to Karachi, offering both freight and passenger servi ...

Milestones
Goans of Pakistan Retrieved 1 October 2010. system. Frank agreed, but on the condition that his home 'Maryville' be returned to him. Jinnah and the Government of Pakistan agreed. Upon completing his job in Pakistan, Frank returned to India and donated his house in Karachi to an order of nuns, the Sisters of Mercy, to be used as a home for the aged. Later, one of his sons, Reverend Father Ronald Alexander D'Souza, a Catholic priest who worked in Lahore, lived the last few years of his life at the home.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:DSouza, Frank Pakistani people of Goan descent Pakistani Christians St. Patrick's High School, Karachi alumni Businesspeople from Karachi Year of birth missing Year of death missing Pakistan Railways

Early life

Pakistan Railways

See also

References