A bill providing representation to Scheduled Tribes in the Goa Legislative Assembly was introduced in Lok Sabha.
On August 5, a bill was introduced by the Central Government to reserve seats for the Scheduled Tribe community in the Goa Assembly.
The ST community is demanding that four out of the 40 assembly seats be reserved for them. The Cabinet had passed the draft bill in March.
Union Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal introduced the Readjustment of Representation of the Scheduled Tribes in the Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024 in the Lok Sabha.
The Bill states that as per the 2011 census, there has been a significant increase in the population of Scheduled Tribes in Goa as compared to the 2001 census.
The total population of Goa is 14,58,545, while the population of Scheduled Tribes is 1,49,275.
According to the census, the population of Scheduled Castes is 25,449.
It also said that the Election Commission has no power to determine the number of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in any State before the next census, hence this Bill was brought to provide reservation for the increasing Scheduled Tribe population.
According to the Bill, the Election Commission will first amend the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008 to make way for reservation.
The Election Commission will also consider the revised population figures of the Scheduled Tribes and readjust the Assembly constituencies after the Bill becomes law.
