Government introduces Bill in Lok Sabha to reserve seats for STs in Goa Assembly

Bill introduced to reserve seats for Scheduled Tribes in Goa Assembly due to increased ST population post 2011 census.

The Union government on August 5 introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to reserve constituencies for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Goa Legislative Assembly, where no seat is currently reserved for STs.

The Bill — Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024 — was introduced in the Lower House by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal.

It is meant to empower the census commissioner to “ascertain or estimate” the population of STs in Goa and subsequently notify them. Further, it enables the Election Commission (EC) to readjust the seats in the Goa Assembly and reserve seats for STs accordingly.

According to the Bill, the population of the Scheduled Tribes had increased considerably in Goa as per the 2011 census compared to the figures from the 2001 census.

While the 2001 census recorded 566 ST people in Goa, the 2011 census recorded the ST population of Goa to be at 1,49,275. A significant reason for this increase in the ST population was that three new communities — Kunbi, Gawda, and Velip — had been added to Goa’s ST list in 2003.

The Bill noted that a “peculiar situation” has arisen in the State, wherein the population of the STs there vis-à-vis the population of SCs is considerably higher — as per the Primary Census Abstract, 2011 for Goa.

“But no seats are reserved for the STs and they are unable to avail the constitutional benefit of reservation...”