The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has welcomed the passage of the bill for reservation of Assembly seats in Goa for the Scheduled Tribes community by Parliament.
The party's Velim MLA Cruz Silva and its ST wing vice-president Vinay Velip released a joint statement in a video welcoming the development even as they highlighted the community's current condition and plight in the State.
Silva, while welcoming the bill, emphasised that beyond reservation, the government must ensure proper and full utilisation of the constitutionally mandated budgetary allocations for ST community welfare.
"Funds allocated under the Tribal welfare meant specifically for the ST community are misused and remain unutilised year after year. This needs to be addressed promptly," Silva said.
Velip who recently joined the AAP and has been appointed the party's ST Wing Vice President, congratulated the people of the community.
He said, it took 22 long years for this bill meant to give the community political representation enshrined in the Constitution to see the light of day.
He said all these years the BJP and the Congress were in power both here and at the Centre and are responsible for the delay.
Meanwhile, in a seperate statement, AAP's Benaulim MLA, Venzy Viegas said he hoped the follow-up formalities are completed by the government and the Election Commission in time to ensure that the quota of seats is available to the ST community at the 2027 elections.
Viegas said, AAP has always been giving priority to the issues faced by the tribal community in Goa. He and Silva have often raised these matters with urgency in the assembly over the last two and half years, he added.
