MARGAO
The Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa has decided to up the ante in support of its long-pending demand for political reservations for the Scheduled Tribes in the upcoming Goa Legislative Assembly election.
After the 15-day deadline issued by the Mission to the government expired last month, the organisation has now decided to call on the Director of Tribal Welfare on May 11 to ascertain the exact reason behind the delay in implementing the law.
The Mission has appealed to ST youth, parents, social workers, leaders, organisations and well-wishers to join the democratic struggle in large numbers.
Mission leader Joseph Vaz said that even after the historic law for political reservations for the ST communities in the Goa Assembly was passed and notified on August 13, 2025, the government has failed to issue the required notification till date for its implementation.
At a media briefing last month wherein a 15-day deadline was set by the organisation to implement the law on political reservations, the Mission had expressed its deep concern over the continued delay in operationalising ‘The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Act, 2025’, despite the Act having received Presidential assent and being notified in the Official Gazette over six months ago.
Mission leaders, president John Fernandes and Govind Shirodkar, said the legislation represents a historic step towards ensuring fair and constitutional political representation to the Scheduled Tribe community in Goa, in line with the spirit of Article 332 of the Constitution of India. They, however, said that as per sub-section (2) of Section 1 of the said Act, it shall come into force only upon issuance of a notification by the Central Government in the Official Gazette. The absence of notification of the appointed date by the Central Government has effectively stalled the implementation process, they said.
Incidentally, Tribal Welfare Minister Ramesh Tawadkar had recently told the media that a delegation from Goa would soon call on Union Home Minister Amit Shah with a plea to issue the notification to implement the law on political reservations for the STs in Goa.
