MARGAO
The United Tribals Alliance Association (UTAA) has called upon the new Goa government to coordinate with the Centre and ensure that the charter of demands of the tribal community, including the demand for political reservations, are fulfilled.
Addressing the media, UTAA convenor Prakash Velip has hoped the pending demands of the tribal community are addressed even as the new government has promised to usher in the development of the State. “UTAA has presented a charter of demands to the government around a decade and half ago to meet the rights of the tribal community enshrined in the Constitution. After a sustained struggle and movements, most of the charter of demands have been fulfilled till date, barring three demands, including political reservations for the tribal community,” he said.
Besides political reservations, Velip pointed out that the government is yet to concede the remaining two demands the ST areas as Scheduled Areas and formation of ST Council. “Fulfillment of these two demands would ensure that funds under the tribal sub-plan and grants from the Centre can go directly to the tribal scheduled areas for development,” he said.
On political reservations, Velip said as many as four MLAs belonging to the ST community, including Ramesh Tawadkar, Ganesh Gaonkar, Govind Gaude and Antonio Vas have been elected to the Goa Legislative Assembly without political reservations.
