MARGAO
Promising the tribal leaders that he would personally take up with the Centre on the issue of political reservations for the ST community in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Friday mulled roping in of private surveyor to hasten the process of clearing the backlog of Forest Rights cases.
Speaking at a programme hosted by United Tribal Alliance Association (UTAA) at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on Friday, the Chief Minister said that his government will take every step to ensure that the ST community in the State gets the rights mandated under the Constitution.
“One of the UTAA leaders made a plea to fulfil the long-pending issue of giving political reservations for the ST community. I can assure the tribal people that not just the political reservations, I will take up with the Centre to fulfill all your rights provided under the Constitution,” he said.
Referring to the demand to clear the backlog of Forest Rights cases in the light of the Supreme Court’s cut of date of June 21, 2021 to clear the pending cases across the country, the Chief Minister exuded confidence of clearing the backlog of cases with the appointment of private surveyors.
“I had a meeting with Tribal Welfare Minister Govind Gawde last night and senior officials, where I took a complete review of the backlog of forest rights cases. We have come to the conclusion that since these cases have remained pending for want of survey, the government will engage private surveyors to clear the pending cases within the next three months. As per records, around 10,500 forest rights applications have come from the people, out of which around 3,500 forms have been cleared by the gram sabhas,” he said, while admitting that the cases were not taken to the logical conclusion for want of logistic support.
The Chief Minister also assured the ST community that the government would manage the roster system to monitor recruitment as well as promotions of the ST candidates.
“I can assure you the people of Goa, including the ST community and the Niz Goemkars that my government will ensure that all the basic amenities reach their door steps during the 60th year of the State’s liberation,” he said.
Tribal Welfare Minister Govind Gawde, besides UTAA leaders, including its Chief Prakash Velip also spoke on the occasion.
