Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal on August 5 introduced Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2024.
- It will provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes (ST) in the Goa Legislative Assembly. The bill will empower the census commissioner to notify the population of STs in Goa.
- Based on it, the Election Commission (EC) will amend the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008, to make way for ST reservation in the 40-member Goa Assembly.
- The EC will take into consideration the revised population figures of STs and readjust the legislative Assembly constituency once the Bill becomes a law.
- As of now, no seat in the 40-member Goa assembly is reserved for the ST community while one seat is reserved for Scheduled Castes.
- The ST community has been demanding that four out of the 40 seats in Goa be reserved for it. It is estimated that Goa has an ST population of 1.5 lakh.
