6 months enough to notify ST reserved seats: UTAA chief

MARGAO
Welcoming the passage of the ST political reservation Bill in the Rajya Sabha on Monday, United Tribal Association Alliance (UTAA) chief Prakash Velip has exuded confidence that it will not take more than six months to complete the exercise of notifying the four reserved Assembly seats and implementing the law in the 2027 Assembly election.

While expressing his gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and all the political parties and leaders who had supported the movement for political reservations, Velip said the passage of the Bill in Parliament is the best gift for the two tribal youths, Manguesh Gaonkar and Dilip Velip, who had sacrificed their lives in the 2011 Balli agitation.

He also thanked all the organisations which had been at the forefront of the agitation to secure the rights of the Scheduled Tribes, including political reservations for the STs in the Goa Legislative Assembly.

The UTAA chief did not agree with the view that the STs will not get political reservation in the 2027 Assembly elections and that the law may come into force only after the 2027 census. “I have gone through the provisions of the Bill and it is clear that the authorities will take the 2001 population into consideration to reserve the seats for the ST communities,” he said.

He added: “In Uttar Pradesh, the Election Commission did not even take three months to notify and reserve the seats for the ST community in that state. I am confident that the entire process of reservation will be complete in less than six months.”