MARGAO
Tribal Welfare Minister Ramesh Tawadkar said he is satisfied that the BJP government could successfully address the 12-point charter of demands, barring political reservations, of the tribal community during the last four yearsHe was speaking on the eve of the fifth anniversary of the Balli rioting incident which claimed the lives of two tribal youth “ Manguesh Gaonkar and Dilip Velip “ in the UTAA agitation on May 25, 2011.UTAA Chief Prakash Velip, who rejoined the BJP this February, however, expressed his displeasure over no political reservations for his community. “I would be happy only if the tribal people from across the state say they are happy with the work done by the government for the community,” he said. Tawadkar, who was among the leaders in the forefront of the UTAA agitation in support of the 12-point charter of demands, said he and the BJP government have fulfilled almost all the demands raised by the tribal people, barring political reservations. “The government is very much keen that the community gets reservations at the coming Assembly elections. A delegation of the BJP party will soon leave for the national capital to convince party central leaders to ensure that the ST community get political reservations,” Tawadkar said.He, however, claimed his tribal ministry had done a lot for the welfare of the tribal community during the last four years. “The government has managed to launch 21 different schemes for the tribal people, including housing. More than 5000 tribal people must have benefited from the housing scheme. Despite inherent constraints and road blocks, we have been able to utilize 58 per cent of the budgetary allocation for the ST community,” Tawadkar said, while conceding that many infrastructure projects could not see light of the day for want of land.The Tribal Welfare Minister said the state government has notified the Schedule areas in the state, but the UTAA Chief said the question of notifying these areas ought to be done by the Centre.The UTAA Chief said the demand for political reservations and notifying the scheduled areas for the tribal people still remains unfulfilled. “I do not want to dispute the minister on his claim and his satisfaction that the government has almost fulfilled the demands. I would like to say that political reservations and Scheduled areas are important demands,” Velip told The Goan.Meanwhile, the government is observing Sankalp Din at Amone-Poinguinim on Wednesday to mark the fifth anniversary of the Balli riots, wherein Surya Gawde and Lakshavati Velip will be honoured on the occasion.
