Goa Bill Seeks ST Reservation in Assembly

The Indian government has introduced the 'Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024' in the Lok Sabha. This bill, presented by Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal, aims to reserve seats for Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Goa Legislative Assembly, which currently has no reserved seats for STs despite their population being significantly higher than that of Scheduled Castes (SCs). The bill will empower the census commissioner to notify the population of STs in Goa and will enable the Election Commission to amend the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008, to create reserved seats for STs. The proposal was approved by the Union Cabinet in March 2024. As of now, the 40-member Goa Assembly has one seat reserved for SCs but none for STs. The ST population in Goa saw a significant increase from 566 in 2001 to 1.49 lakh in 2011, primarily due to the inclusion of three additional communities in 2003.