Blurb:
While seat representation in the Lok Sabha and most state Assemblies has been earmarked, in Goa the number of seats do not match the population and the single reserved seat does not reflect the true size of the ST community
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The Scheduled Tribe community has kick-started its campaign for more representation in the Assembly and has set its eyes on the Nuvem seat. The United Tribal Association Alliance (UTAA) has set a six-month deadline for the Centre and state to fulfill the demand. According to UTAA, four seats in the Assembly ought to be reserved for the tribal community based on the 2011 population census. Presently, only one seat is reserved in the state. The recent socio-economic and cast census data reveals that 12.87 per cent of the population in the state hail from the scheduled tribe community. And since Nuvem has a large concentration of ST community families, it would be the right place to start.
The demand made by the community is within the parameters of law. Article 330 of the Constitution mandates reservation of seats in Parliament and state legislature on the basis of population. Article 334 limited this reservation up to 1960. However, subsequent amendments extended the reservation by 10 years and the ninety-fifth amendment enacted in 2009 extended it to 2020. While seat representation in the Lok Sabha and most state Assemblies has been earmarked, in Goa the number of seats do not match the population and the single seat does not reflect the true size of the ST community.
Reservation in legislatures dates back to the British era. In 1933 British prime minister Ramsay McDonald sought to give separate representation to various religious groups including Dalits, then known as the depressed class. Special constituencies were to be created where only Dalits would be allowed to vote. The move was supported by B R Ambedkar, but opposed by Mahatma Gandhi who argued that it would fragment Hindu society. Finally an agreement, known as the Poona Pact, was signed between the two to have a single Hindu electorate with reservations for Dalits within it. This practice was carried into free India and remains a sensitive subject with no political party willing to reverse it.
It is this history of reservation and Constitutional law that the ST community in the state is relying on to get its fair share of representation in the Assembly. The tribal community is considered as original settlers in the state. In a book titled 'Justice at the Grassroots', the author argues that the community had to bear the burden of two conversions, first to Hinduism and then to Christianity and by the end of the Portuguese era, they found themselves bereft of land and marginalised. Since then a slow yet determined struggle for equal status has been underway. In 2007 UTAA took out a mass rally at Azad Maidan to press for their demands. In December 2009 the organisation blockaded the Assembly to demand setting up of a Commission. The year 2011 saw an agitation in Balli which turned violent resulting in the brutal deaths of two tribal youth. The ST demand for four seats is ethically and legally justified and the government must concede it. The only hurdle would be the political future of established politicians who stand to lose if constituencies are reserved, which is the chief reason why the STs had to wait for its due share of representation.
