ST body’s 15-day ultimatum to govt over assembly quota

Margao: ‘Mission Political Reservation for Scheduled Tribes of Goa’, an advocacy group for tribal rights, has issued a 15-day ultimatum to state govt, demanding it coordinate with the Centre to notify the date for commencement of the law that would reserve assembly seats for STs in the state.

At a press briefing held on Thursday, the organisation warned that failure to act would force it to launch “democratic and ground-level actions” to protect the community’s constitutional rights.

The group expressed concern over the continued delay in operationalising ‘The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Act, 2025’, which received presidential assent and was notified in the official gazette over six months ago. However, the act comes into force only upon central govt issuing a separate notification of the appointed date in the official gazette, which is yet to happen.

President of the organisation John Fernandes pointed out that once the appointed date is notified, subsequent statutory procedures — including the notification of ST constituencies — are expected to take three to four months. “With Goa assembly elections due in Feb 2027 and the model code of conduct likely to kick in by Jan 2027, any further delay could make timely implementation impossible,” he said.

Fernandes also flagged a “growing and credible apprehension” within the ST community that influential political figures in the ruling establishment were deliberately working against the act’s implementation and exerting pressure on both govts to withhold the notification.

The organisation has urged state govt to take up the matter at the highest level with the ministry of law and justice for immediate issuance of the notification.