Says quota notification within a week; no Bhandari quota before census
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in a huddle with ruling party MLAs in the Assembly on Monday.
MAPUSA
Under mounting pressure from the Opposition over alleged injustice to the Other Backward Classes (OBC) community, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday assured the Goa Legislative Assembly that a notification would be issued within the week to provide reservation to OBC students in postgraduate medical seats at Goa Medical College (GMC) and Goa Dental College.
“It is in the process. We are coming with a notification this week on providing reservations to OBC students in PG medical seats in GMC and Dental College, as per the prescribed roster,” Sawant said, addressing concerns raised during the Question Hour.
The Chief Minister also clarified that the Bhandari Samaj, Goa’s largest caste group, is currently included within the existing 27 per cent OBC reservation. Any proposal for a separate reservation category for the Bhandari community, he said, would only be considered after the 2027 national census.
“The data we have is from 2014. Let the Bhandari Samaj make a formal representation after the 2027 census. The government will consider it at that time,” Sawant added.
Raising the issue, Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai accused the government of failing to recruit staff from the OBC community as per the mandated reservation roster.
“As many as 2,141 posts reserved for OBCs remain unfilled. This clearly shows that justice has not been done to the community,” Sardesai said.
He further criticised the government for neglecting the interests of the Bhandari Samaj and demanded clarity on the roadmap for ensuring equitable representation.
Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao also took the government to task for failing to provide timely reservation to OBC students in PG medical education.
“Why was it delayed? This failure reflects poorly on the government’s intent,” he said.
Aldona MLA Carlos Ferreira raised concerns over the growing number of vacancies across various government departments.
“Why is the government not conducting regular Departmental Promotion Committees (DPCs)? Justice must be done to job seekers,” he demanded.
In response, CM Sawant claimed that regular DPCs were being conducted and that necessary instructions had already been issued to departments to follow the reservation roster during recruitment.
Earlier in the session, Social Welfare Minister Subhash Phal Dessai admitted that the highest backlog of vacancies existed in the health, police and education departments.
He revealed that some reserved posts had to be de-reserved after three failed recruitment attempts, as per policy.
Despite facing criticism, CM Sawant asserted that his government had provided maximum benefits to the OBC community, and accused the Opposition of trying to gain political mileage by projecting themselves as the sole champions of OBC rights.
“Our government has delivered justice to both the OBC community and the Bhandari Samaj,” Sawant said.
