PANAJI
The much awaited Bill seeking political reservation to the Scheduled Tribe (ST) community in the Goa Assembly finally came up for discussion in Lok Sabha on Tuesday.
The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024, after passing in the Lok Sabha, will be tabled in the upper house -- Rajya Sabha, on Wednesday for discussion and passing.
The Bill was introduced during the last session of the Lok Sabha by the Union Ministry for Law and Justice.
BJP Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Sadanand Shet Tanavade confirmed that the Bill has been taken up for discussion in Lok Sabha today (Tuesday). “Once passed in Lok Sabha, the Bill will come up before Rajya Sabha on Wednesday,” he said.
Opposition members in the Lok Sabha, including Congress MP Viriato Fernandes and Trinamool Congress' Pratima Mondal accused the government of not taking meaningful steps for the benefit of Scheduled Tribe communities.
Participating in a debate on a bill to provide reservation to STs in the Goa Legislative Assembly, Fernandes said there are doubts about the real intention of the BJP-led government in bringing this bill.
He said that the present government has delayed bringing the bill. “I hope the government does not delay the passage of this bill,” he said.
Samajwadi Party leader Chhotelal also said that the bill was introduced after a long delay which shows that the government is “not concerned” about the community.
Echoing similar views, Mondal said that the government is good at talking but “will not do anything” for SCs and STS.
“They only make false promises... The bill relies on the 2001 census which is outdated. Reliance on old data undermines the objectives of fair representation of STs,” she said and asked, “Why did the government wait till 2024 to bring this bill”.
At present, the Goa Assembly has 40 seats with no reservation to ST. The number of seats to be reserved will be based on the ST population in the State.
Political reservation for STs is a long pending demand of the community, who had, earlier this year, launched State wide protest pressing for their demand.
According to the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, three to four seats could be reserved for STs based on the population. The government is hopeful to reserve seats for STs in the upcoming 2027 polls.
"It is imperative to enact a law to provide for enabling provisions empowering the Election Commission to make amendments in Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008 and readjust seats in Legislative Assembly of the State of Goa for STs," the Bill stated.
Since, the exercise of delimitation was initiated in 2002, the population of STs in the State of Goa was recorded at that time in the census figures of 2001 as only 566, whereas the total population of the State of Goa was more than 13 lakh, the Bill added.
