Govt will strive to ensure political quota for STs by '27 polls: Sawant

Margao: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday promised Goa’s scheduled tribes that his govt would strive to ensure they get reservation in the state legislative assembly by the 2027 assembly polls.

Addressing a rally of tribals at Farmagudi, Ponda, to mark the commemoration of 20 years of the inception of the United Tribals Associations’ Alliance (UTAA), an umbrella organisation of the tribal community, Sawant hoped that the bill for granting political reservation to Goa’s STs would be passed in the forthcoming session of the Lok Sabha.

“Once that’s done, we will follow it up with the Centre and try to expedite the process to ensure that it happens by the 2027 assembly polls,”, he said.

Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the movement over the demand for reservation of seats for STs in the state legislative assembly saw a see-saw of decisions by ST leaders spearheading the cause — from threatening a poll boycott to considering an independent candidate, then claiming neutrality, before a breakaway faction finally backed the INDIA bloc two days before voting.

Stating that his govt has done everything possible for the welfare of tribals in the state, Sawant also assured them that the construction of the proposed tribal bhavan at Porvorim would be completed by 2027.

While he reassured the tribals that they would get all their rights guaranteed under the Constitution, Sawant also took on those who accused govt of having plans to change the Constitution.

Sawant made these comments in response to a 12-point charter of demands placed before him by UTAA, which, apart from political reservation, also included demands for direct recruitment and promotions to fill up backlog vacancies, and a ban on the sale of ST land to persons outside the community, among others.

Sawant urged the tribal community to stay united in the pursuit of their demands, even as minister for art and culture Govind Gaude, who spoke before Sawant, in a veiled reference to his political rivals, spoke of attempts to divide the community and warned them of dire consequences.

Gaude also said that there were attempts to dispossess the tribals of the lands they cultivated for generations, and underscored the need to thwart such moves. Further, Gaude said that the Mhadei issue was as much about protecting the livelihoods of the tribals living in the villages around the Mhadei as it was about protecting the environment and the state’s interests.