MARGAO
The GAKUVED Federation has demanded the immediate appointment of a practicing lawyer as the Chairman of Goa ST/SC Commission.
Addressing the media on Saturday, GAKUVED General Secretary Rupesh S Velip hoped that Tribal Welfare Minister Govind Gaude, Sports Minister Manohar Ajgaonkar, MLAs Prasad Gaonkar and Pandurang Madkaikar, who all belong to the ST/SC community, recommend an honest, committed and professionally educated person and not a ‘yes sir’ candidate to fill up the vacant post of SC/ST Chairman.
Saying that the SC/ST Chairman’s post has been lying vacant since September 4, Rupesh said it appears that the government has not taken any decision to appoint a new person for such an important post whose primary duty is to protect the tribal rights and their interests.
“Many serious and important cases related to land rights, atrocities, including the crucial case of transfer of physically disabled anganwadi worker Lata Gaonkar from Sattari to Quepem are pending before the Commission. Being a constitutional post, human rights of ST/SC are affected and the post cannot be kept vacant,” he said.
“The Chairperson of ST/SC Commission has got powers of a civil court judge and can give orders to give justice to the SC/ST community. We demand that the post should be filled up by an experienced practicing lawyer with at least 10 years in the legal field or any retired judge from the SC/ST community. Also, he or she must have knowledge of court proceedings and must have worked for the welfare of the scheduled tribes and scheduled castes,” demanded Adv John Fernandes.
He pointed out that since the post is a responsible one, the person appointed should be neutral and not attached or affiliated to any political party.
“The person appointed should be capable enough to use his powers to the best of his ability and give correct judgements based on the facts and findings of a particular case. His judgements/verdicts should not be politically influenced nor there should be any pressure from the government on him while discharging his duties,” he added.
