PANJIM: A delegation of Gawada, Kunbi and Velip Community under the of banner ‘Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa’ met Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai on Friday, and brought to his notice long pending demand of political reservation for Scheduled Tribes (ST) communities of the State.
In the representation submitted to the Governor, the Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa stated that Gawada, Kunbi and Velip communities were notified in Goa in 2003 taking the percentage of Scheduled Tribes in Goa to 12.5 per cent. At the times when the said notification was issued, the delimitation commission was constituted and was preparing its report for readjustment of seats and reservation of seats for SC and ST communities.
The said report was tabled in Parliament in 2008 and was approved. However, Scheduled Tribes of Goa were kept deprived of their constitutional right of political reservation .The team requested to Issue necessary direction to Election Commission of India (ECI) to give political reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa.
The delegation requested the Governor to submit his report on the issue in both Houses of Parliament so that either Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha passes the long pending bill ie readjustment of representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies (Third) Bill, 2013; to submit his report to Central Government, Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department)to constitute the delimitation commission for the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the State.
It urged the Governor to submit his report to President for promulgation of Ordinance in the lines of readjustment of representation of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in Parliamentary and Assembly constituencies and to submit his report to the Election Commission of India to issue Notification.
Mission political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes general secretary Rupesh Velip said that the Governor has assured them that he will into the matter and ensure that the Scheduled Tribes of Goa get the benefit of political reservation in the State as enshrined under Constitution of India by placing the matter before the concerned authorities. The delegation comprised Adv Joao Fernandes, Ravindra Velip, Rupesh Velip, Rama Kankonkar, Francisco Colaco, Govind Shirodkar and Joseph Vaz.
