Police stopped the protestors at the Old Mandovi bridge, which led to a nearly two-hours blockade. The demand is not a new one and goes all the way back to 2003, more than 20 years ago. As per the 2003 census, it had come to light that 12% of the population belonged to the ST community and so the community’s request was to reserve four constituencies for STs. However, apart from hollow promises, the community never received what has always been rightfully theirs. As expected, the morcha on Monday received support from the Opposition faction, while the Leader of the Opposition (LoP), Yuri Alemao, demanded a clarification from the government in the Assembly. But the chief minister temporarily set aside the topic by assuring that he will comment on the LoP’s suggestion on the day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit.
While Opposition MLAs tried to gain political mileage by telling the protestors that the government is not ready to listen to their demand which was raised by them in the assembly, all eyes will be on CM Sawant for his response today. However, the real question is: Does the ruling and Opposition parties truly want the ST community’s wish to be fulfilled? Because the political equations in the State have taken a 3600 turn over the past 20 years and so the political leaders have studied the rise in population and voters in their respective constituencies. Presently, there are four MLAs in the Goa Assembly who belong to the ST community, but one cannot say that they have won solely because of the votes from ST voters. Therefore, they cannot openly vouch for only one community’s needs and requirements since they have to consider the entire constituency as a whole. But it is natural for the Opposition to find opportunities to leverage their game when members of a particular community take to the streets against the government. No MLA would take the risk of going against the public sentiment of his own voters. There is no clarity over which census to refer to, when Delimitation Commission will be formed, or when the Cabinet will take the decision if the government were to grant political reservation for ST community members. But one thing for sure is that the government will have to come clean regarding its stance on the issue, one way or the other.
The report by the Parisiman Commission which was presented in Parliament in 2008 mentions that the ST community in Goa was not granted political reservations. The community members had brought this fact to the attention of Goa governor P S Sreedharan Pillai last year. The community’s union had also presented a memorandum to the Parliamentary Committee appointed for the welfare of STs, when it had visited Goa. Political reservation is a constitutional right, which has been granted to the community in various states. In Maharashtra, the community has been granted 25 reserved seats as per the community population of 9.40 % in the State. Similarly, 26 seats are reserved in Gujarat, 15 in Karnataka, nine in Telangana and nine seats in even Jammu and Kashmir, depending on the percentage of the community’s population in the respective States. So, it is safe to say that the ST community in Goa is not asking for something extraordinary or unreasonable and the political leaders should understand that first. Unfortunately, none of the governments took the matter seriously till now.
It should also be taken into account that political reservation will not resolve all the problems faced by the community, but this doesn’t give them a free pass to keep giving them hollow promises without actually doing anything about it. This will only lead to unified agitations against the government regardless of the parties in power. The members of the community, along with ST leader and Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, had met with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who had assured them that he is not against their demand. However, it should be seen through actions. Till then, the community members need to maintain their unity. The political leaders too should keep aside their personal differences as it sends out a wrong message.
