Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: Goa’s Scheduled Tribe reservation process has entered a crucial stage, with the Centre’s latest directive putting the state’s ST population figures at the heart of the exercise to reserve Assembly constituencies.
The Ministry of Law and Justice has asked the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to ascertain or estimate Goa’s ST population under the legislation that provides for readjustment of Assembly representation for the community.
The move follows the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Act, 2025, which came into force on August 6.
The immediate task is to establish the ST population using the latest available census data. The figures will then be officially notified, creating the demographic basis for the next steps in the reservation process.
This makes the population assessment a critical link between the legislation coming into force and the eventual identification of constituencies to be reserved for ST candidates.
The state government has been looking at Sanguem, Quepem, Priol and Nuvem as possible constituencies for ST reservation. However, the final decision will depend on the statutory delimitation exercise and the population data that emerges from the process.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said the Centre has asked the Census Commissioner to expedite the implementation of the Act.
Once the ST population figures are notified, the Delimitation Commission will have to undertake the required changes to the existing constituency arrangement. The process will then move towards formal notification of the reserved constituencies by the Election Commission.
The latest development therefore does not immediately reserve any Assembly seat. Instead, it sets in motion the population-counting and delimitation chain that must precede the final reservation decision.
With the next Assembly election approaching, the exercise could have significant political implications for constituencies that may ultimately come under ST reservation.
