PANJIM: The Mission Political Reservation for STs on Saturday appealed to Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar to allow discussion on reservation of seats for Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities to happen on the floor of the House in the forthcoming monsoon session of Goa Assembly, scheduled starting from Monday, July 15, and also in the ensuing session of Parliament, so that the necessary law be enacted and the process is started immediately without any further delay.
Reacting to the Speaker disallowing opposition MLA Alton D’Costa’s Private Member’s resolution on political reservation, Mission for Political Reservation for STs president Adv John Fernandes pointed out that despite having such resolution passed in the monsoon session in July last year, the process to give political reservation had not begun yet. The Mission has been demanding to initiate such process by introducing the necessary law in Parliament or by bringing an Ordinance.
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The Mission had previously submitted various letters and memorandums to the government, held hunger strikes and a morcha on Goa Assembly last year. The demand of political reservation, which is a Constitutional right as enshrined to the STs under Article 330 and 332, is pending since last 20 years, Adv Fernandes said.
Adv Fernandes recalled that on March 7, 2024, the then Union Cabinet had given a nod to introduce ‘Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024.’ Following the nod, the BJP in Goa and their leaders made celebrations and declared it as a ‘Modi Ki Guarantee’, a promise to the entire Scheduled Tribe community, that it will fulfill the promise once the NDA government comes back to power at Centre.
“At this point, we would like to bring to the notice of the Goa government and to the notice of the Assembly Speaker that it was just a cabinet nod of the previous government. Since the new government has formed at Centre, it may need a fresh cabinet nod for introducing any such law. Therefore, we request the Speaker to allow discussions to happen on the floor of the House so that the entire ST community of Goa is informed on the status of political reservation.”
Stating that Tawadkar, who also hails from the tribal community should understand the sentiments of the community, Adv Fernandes said that discussions in the Goa Assembly and in Parliament will help to maintain the continuous pressure on the government to fulfil the long pending demand of the STs.
