Mapusa: Members of Pernem’s Scheduled Caste (SC) community expressed frustration over the lack of local representation in the reserved constituency for decades and called for unity to ensure a local candidate wins the 2027 Assembly election.Speaking at a convention in Pernem on Sunday, leaders said the community must unite to end what they described as the practice of outside candidates contesting from the constituency.“In the last 35 years, no candidate from the SC community has been elected from this constituency despite it being reserved,” Adv Jitendra Gaokar said.Community leaders said the constituency has around 3,500 SC voters and urged them to unite behind a local candidate.Meanwhile, the Gomantak Mahasangh Hitvardhak Mandal demanded a caste-wise census before any ST reservation is implemented. It cautioned that taking political decisions without updated population data could cause injustice to the SC community.“If reservation is given to the ST community before the census is conducted in Goa, it will be an injustice to the Scheduled Caste community,” Gomantak Mahasangh Hitvardhak Mandal president Siddhesh Parwar said.The Gomantak Dhangar Samaj Mandal has also intensified rallies across Pernem taluka, calling on young leaders to spearhead village-level campaigns seeking the immediate constitutional inclusion of the community under ST status.
