MARGAO
The Mission Political Reservations for Scheduled Tribes has expressed its disappointment that the Bill to accord political reservations for the ST communities in Goa could not be passed in the just-concluded session of Parliament.
Even as the ruling BJP and the Opposition Congress are engaged in a blame game over the ST Reservation Bill, Mission president Adv John Fernandes said the Mission, as well as the Scheduled Tribes, had been hoping that the Bill would be passed in the just-concluded Parliament session, but in vain.
“Hopes were raised amongst the Scheduled Tribes that the entire process in respect of the Bill would be complete in this Parliament session, but they have been dashed. We do not know whether the Scheduled Tribes will ever get justice,” he said.
He questioned: “If the government was serious about passing the Bill to give political reservations for the Scheduled Tribes, why was the Bill not passed in the last Parliament session? Why is there a delay when it comes to the implementation of a Constitutional mandate in the form of political reservations for the Scheduled Tribes?”
Raising apprehensions that the delay in Parliament’s passage of the Bill will further delay providing political reservations for Scheduled Tribes, Adv John said, “The STs have been waging a sustained movement, hoping to secure political reservations for the 2027 Assembly election.”
“We fear that the government should not, tomorrow, say that though they have passed the Bill, there’s no time left to implement the law in the 2027 Assembly election. If the government is serious about implementing the Bill to ensure that the ST community gets the intended benefit of political reservations, the government should immediately bring an Ordinance and not wait for the next session to pass the legislation,” Adv John asserted.
The Mission Political Reservations for the Scheduled Tribes had launched a strong movement in support of the long-pending demand for the implementation of political reservations for the Scheduled Tribes in Goa.
In fact, the Forum had upped the ante in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, virtually forcing the BJP-led government at the Centre to take a Cabinet decision in support of the demand for political reservations for the ST communities in Goa.
