The recent communication by the Central Legislative Department informing reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes would be done based on the next census, which will begin only after 2026, is a rude shock to those fighting the cause for decades.
The Assistant Legislative Counsel mentions that as per the recent amendments to the Constitution, until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2026 are published, it is not necessary to readjust the seats in the legislative assemblies of each State.
The question here is, in view of the amendments to Articles 330 and 332, how did the State government give an assurance of implementing reservation before the next Assembly elections? With injustice being meted out to Goa, why can't the State be considered a special case with necessary tweaks in legislation? The change in law could mean that Goa may have to wait longer, a period that may extend beyond 2031. Unfortunately, the ST reservation issue has once again taken the long road of uncertainty.
If we may recall, the Goa Legislative Assembly, in its recently concluded monsoon Assembly session, adopted a resolution to give political reservation to STs, despite knowing for a fact that there is very little it can do in this regard. Sawant had assured the House to take a delegation to Delhi and submit a representation to the Centre for the reservation of constituencies. Sawant had also raised concerns over a mismatch of the ST count and cited the Mayem constituency, where he said just one ward has STs with less than 150 people. Mayem is among the four constituencies notified in the gazette, besides Priol, Sanguem and Quepem.
What has unfolded now smacks of political opportunism instead of empowerment of communities. If the government was genuinely seized with the reservation issue for STs, it could have pursued it along with States like Assam, Manipur, Mizoram and J&K in 2020. There appears to be a calculated political ploy to leverage the quota of STs to dissect areas/constituencies so as to gain an intended electoral advantage. Allowing reservation based on 2011 could backfire on the BJP, with some of their key contenders in the current dispensation falling out of the race.
The question is whether those fighting the cause will get a hearing with President Droupadi Murmu when she begins her 3-day visit to the State. The president of India is the authority to notify the reservation for tribal communities. Could Murmu lend an ear to this vexed issue that Scheduled Tribes in Goa have been facing for decades? Could this be a moment of reckoning and a stroke of luck for a community that has been left out of the electoral jigsaw?
