Goa’s Scheduled Tribe reservation process for four Assembly constituencies has moved to the next stage, with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant saying public consultations are likely to be held in November and the final notification is expected before December 10.
The constituencies identified for reservation are Quepem, Sanguem, Nuvem and Priol. Sawant said the Central Election Commission has written to the State Election Commission on the issue, after which the state poll body forwarded a report covering the four seats.
According to the chief minister, the next step is for the Central Election Commission to ask the State Election Commission to conduct a public consultation. The consultation is expected to continue for about a month, he said, although the supplied report does not specify the dates or format of the exercise.
Sawant said the final notification on reservation is likely to be issued before December 10. The announcement establishes a proposed administrative timeline, but the report does not provide the text of the commission’s communication, the constituency-wise basis for the recommendation or details of how objections and representations will be recorded during the consultation.
The chief minister also asked the United Tribal Associations Alliance not to hold protests over the issue and criticised what he described as politically motivated statements. He said the election commission is an autonomous body and that the process would follow established procedures.
“A letter from the CEC to the SEC has come. They have already sent a report for four constituencies — Quepem, Sanguem, Nuvem and Priol — to the CEC. The process has to be understood and not used to make political allegations,” Sawant said.
Sawant presented the proposed reservation as the culmination of steps taken by the state government and the Centre. He said resolutions had been passed to advance the process and that previous governments had not taken similar action. He also linked the development to the recognition of Scheduled Tribe status and to welfare schemes implemented under earlier BJP governments in Goa.
The process has significance beyond the notification date because reservation of Assembly seats changes the formal electoral framework through which communities are represented. For residents of the four constituencies, the immediate public issue is how the consultation will be conducted, what material will be placed before participants and whether the final notification follows the report submitted by the State Election Commission.
The next stated milestone is the proposed public consultation in November, followed by the expected notification before December 10. No specific consultation dates or final constituency order had been announced in the supplied report.
