CM urges Shah to complete process of ST reservation before assembly polls

Panaji: Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday urged Union home minister Amit Shah that Centre should reserve assembly seats for the ST community before the next assembly elections in 2027.

Sawant met Shah along with MLAs from ST community, Goa assembly speaker Ganesh Gaonkar and BJP state president Damodar Naik.

The CM said that Shah assured the delegation that as soon as possible ST reservation process will be completed and seats will be reserved for the ST community. “Shah assured us to look into legal aspect of reserving the seats and fasttrack the process,” he said.

Recently BJP delegation has submitted memorandum to chief electoral officer to complete the process as soon as possible to reserve the assembly seats in Goa for the ST community.

The Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha have passed the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Goa Assembly Constituencies Bill, 2025, to have ST reservation at the next assembly elections in the state.

The passing of the bill in both the Houses of Parliament is likely to reserve around four seats for the ST community in the 2027 state assembly elections. The bill will now be sent to the President of India for assent.

The bill was passed in both the houses in Aug 2025.

With elections round the corner, BJP is actively trying to reserve the seats for the ST community.

When the delimitation was held in 2002, the ST community in Goa did not get reservation in the assembly as the numbers were not sufficient to warrant a quota. However, with the addition of new tribes — Kunbi, Gawda, and Velip — to the list of scheduled tribes, their numbers increased considerably.

The ST community is estimated to be 1.5 lakh. The number of reserved seats in the assembly will be based on the revised population figure.

Sawant also met Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and discussed key projects under the railways ministry and IT and telecom ministry.

Sawant urged the minister to support Tuem EMC, through the IT ministry. The CM said that he has received a positive response from the Union minister.

Sawant said that he urged the Union minister to inaugurate the Tuem project as soon as possible. On railways, the CM said that state govt urged Centre to take up maintenance work of Goa-Mumbai Konkan railway route and add new trains on the route.

Sawant also met Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and discussed recruitment-related concerns at the National Institute of Technology, Goa. “He assured to address the matter in the interest of Goa at the earliest,” the CM said.