The community’s concerns need priority, not political point-scoring
Since Sunday, Goa’s political landscape has been buzzing. The reason is that Minister for Art and Culture and Sports, Govind Gaude, made some disparaging remarks against the Tribal Welfare Department at the Prerna Dis function at Farmagudi on May 18. He hinted at corruption and lamented that the tribal community is still suffering. The opposition got an issue on a platter to put the government on the mat. They complimented Gaude for showing courage “to expose corruption in the government”. Obviously, Gaude’s outburst put the BJP in a spot. Gaude’s statement has strong repercussions as Chief Minister Pramod Sawant holds the Tribal Welfare portfolio. Taken aback by Gaude’s critical statement, the BJP has decided to take necessary action against him. Though Chief Minister on Monday said that appropriate action would be taken against the Minister, it remains to be seen whether it will happen at all.
Some see the development as part of the virtual war between Gaude and Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar. The two have been at loggerheads for quite some time, and their fight has unfortunately divided the tribals into two camps. Probably it is for this reason that Sawant has kept Tribal Welfare portfolio with himself.
The focus these days has been on the reactions following Gaude’s outbursts on Sunday. As it happens, political statements and intra-party politics take centre stage, and many times the core issues get deflected. In this case too, the main focus should have been on the pending issues dogging the tribal community. It was while speaking on these issues that Gaude behaved like an activist—he was one before he became an MLA. He raised the issue of the Tribal Bhavan, whose construction he said is delayed. Finding flaws with the organisers of the event—the Tribal Welfare Department—Gaude said that if they can’t organise the annual programme efficiently (as the crowd was poor), then the tribals themselves could organise it. Gaude was minister for tribal welfare from 2017–2022.
Gawda, Kunbi, and Velip were declared Scheduled Tribe communities in 2003. As per the 2011 census, the tribal population in Goa is 1.49 lakh, which is approximately 10.23 per cent.
Several issues concerning the tribal population are pending. These include direct recruitment and promotions to fill up backlog vacancies, and a ban on the sale of ST lands to persons outside the community. But the most important demand of the community is political reservation. After a threat of a major agitation by the Mission Political Reservation for STs, the BJP got the bill passed in Parliament. They want reservation of seats for STs in the next assembly elections. They also have issues concerning implementation of the Forest Rights Act, 2006, fund allocation under the Tribal Sub-Plan in the budget, and its proper utilisation, among others. On the issue of land ownership in Goa, the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes (NCST), during its Goa visit recently, asked the state government to take a Cabinet-level policy decision on giving land titles to the tribal community.
The political class must rise above politics if they want to give real justice to the tribal community. Instead of scoring brownie points over their rivals, the leaders need to realise that the tribal community’s cause suffers if they continue with their ego politics. Their leaders need to bury the hatchet and work with the government for the progress and upliftment of the community.
