Decode Politics: Why ST quota demand in Goa is gaining traction

Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant last week said reservation for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Assembly will become a reality in the next state polls, scheduled for 2027.

Sawant, responding to a “calling attention” moved by Opposition MLAs, told the Assembly that his government had written to the Union Home Ministry and Law Ministry on February 7 to initiate the process of constituting a delimitation commission to identify and determine Assembly segments which would be reserved for the STs. The CM also said he would meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal in Delhi over the issue.

What is the issue and is it new?

Last week, members of the tribal community marched towards the Assembly demanding ST-reserved seats when they were stopped by the police, following which a government delegation met them. The STs in Goa enjoy reservation in elections at the panchayat, municipality and zilla parishad-level but not in the Assembly elections.

Sawant’s assurance and the renewed focus on the issue come ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections after an umbrella group, Mission Political Reservation for STs of Goa, comprising 16 ST organisations, unanimously passed a resolution in May last year threatening to boycott polls if their demand was not met.

In July 2023, the issue also came up in the Assembly, which passed a private member’s resolution recommending reservations for STs in the House. “These communities (STs) deserve to be brought into the mainstream, need support to make the community more educated as well as empowered and hence need a larger political representation to achieve the same,” the resolution said.

On Saturday, Goa Forward Party (GFP) chief Vijay Sardesai said he would continue to strongly