PTI New Delhi
The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Goa assembly. The bill will now go to the Rajya Sabha.
The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025, will allow for reservation of four seats for STs in the Goa assembly, once it is passed by both the Houses of Parliament and becomes an Act following the President’s assent.
Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved the bill for consideration and passage amid din in the House and the legislation was passed by a voice vote.
Incidentally, the bill was introduced in the Lower House on this day in 2024 and had been pending since then. This is the first bill to be passed by the Lok Sabha in the ongoing monsoon session, which has seen disruptions by the Opposition on various issues.
According to the bill, the population of Scheduled Tribes has increased considerably in Goa as per the 2011 census vis-vis 2001 census figures. It noted that a “peculiar situation” has arisen in the state wherein the population of STs vis-vis the population of SCs is considerably higher as per the Primary Census Abstract, 2011 for Goa.
The total population was 14,58,545; the population of SCs was 25,449 and the population of STs was 1,49,275, which is 10.23%. According to this percentage, at least four seats will be reserved for STs at the legislative assembly polls.
If one goes by the population ratio of tribals in Goa, the four assembly constituencies which could be reserved for STs could be from Sanguem, Quepem, Priol, Nuvem and Canacona.
As of now, no seat in the 40-member Goa assembly is reserved for the ST community, while one seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
After clearance of the bill in the Parliament and following the Presidential assent, a delimitation commission will be set up.
The commission will carry out the process for identifying the assembly constituencies and delimitation of the constituencies to reserve seats for STs. This process will take six months to a year.
Though the state government has maintained that STs will get political reservation at the 2027 assembly polls, all will depend on the process that will be undertaken after the Parliament clears the bill.
