MAPUSA
Expressing satisfaction with the High Court order on the reservation process, former chairperson and Congressman Michael Carrasco said the government should follow a set pattern while reserving the wards instead of doing it in a haphazard manner.
“The reservation policy adopted by the Director of Municipal Administration was not in a proper manner. There was no particular pattern they were following. It should have carried out either in a clockwise or anti-clockwise manner so that we could know in advance whether our wards are reserved or not,” Carrasco said.
The former chairperson was the main petitioner who challenged the reservation of wards in Mapusa. Another ex-chairperson, Prabhakar Vernekar, was co-petitioner in the matter.
Speaking further, Carrasco said the government had carried out the reservation process arbitrarily to favour their people.
“You cannot keep a ward continuously for reservation for 10 years. If it was reserved for five years, then next five years it should be made general,” he said.
The former chairperson also opined that the move to approach the Supreme Court in the matter was a wrong decision.
“When the State Election Commission has admitted that the reservation for women was not as per the Constitutional mandate, going to SC will not be fruitful,” he said.
On the contrary, he said the government should redo the reservation process so that justice is done to all the people.
According to Carrasco, the Congress-led government never messed up the reservation policy as badly as the BJP government has done.
“The Congress always followed a progressive pattern while carrying out the reservation process. The BJP has manipulated the process to their advantage,” he said.
