PANAJI
The reservation for Scheduled Tribes in the State Assemblies is governed by the provisions of Article 332 of the Indian Constitution.
According to former State election commissioner, Prabhakar Timble, the political reservation in State Assemblies is to be decided rationally by the Delimitation Commission. This Commission is an independent constitutional body and has similar powers like that of the Election Commission of India. The Delimitation Commission has to arrive at the number of reserved seats in the State Assemblies and also identify the constituencies which would be reserved for Scheduled Tribes, says Timble.
He further said, the State government has no power to make provision for political reservation in the State assembly. Any resolutions passed by the State Assembly will have no bearing on the process and outcome of political reservation of seats for ST.
Resolutions are mere statements of sentiments of the members of the House. The State government can do all other things to bring the community into the mainstream and empower the community through education, skill development and employment. As far as reservation and representation in the apex legislature of the state is concerned, nothing can be done by the State government or the central government including both the Houses of Parliament.
It is for the political parties and interest-groups to demand the reservation of constituencies to Scheduled Tribes before the Delimitation Commission. First of all, The Delimitation Commission needs to be constituted. The last Delimitation Commission which fixed the boundaries of constituencies for Parliament and State Assemblies was appointed in 2002 and its tenure lasted till 2008.
As a sequel of the 84th Amendment to the Constitution of India, the new Delimitation is to be done in 2026 if not postponed. The delimitation will be based on the first census conducted after 2026.
Assuming the Delimitation Commission is constituted in 2026, based on the working of the earlier Commissions, it would take a minimum of 3-4 years for the Commission to meet stakeholders in all the States, prepare preliminary document for consultations with political parties for discussions, objections and suggestions. Delimitation exercise also involves drawing fresh boundaries of constituencies depending on the population and geographical contiguity.
The final report of the Delimitation Commission normally takes five years. After the acceptance of the Reports by the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs, the same are approved by the President. The Reports of the Commission are laid before the Lok Sabha and the respective State Assemblies.
In the light of the above, the political reservation for ST in Goa assembly would in all probability be effective from 2032 State assembly elections. Neither the State or the central government can hasten it before nor put it in abeyance beyond this year.
