Panaji: A delegation from Goa will meet the Union home minister, Amit Shah, within the next 15 days to expedite the long-pending issue of scheduled tribe (ST) reservation in the Goa legislative assembly, minister for tribal welfare Ramesh Tawadkar said on Monday.Tawadkar stated that no major hurdles remain in implementing the reservation, adding that the issuance of a final notification is the only step required to formalise ST reservation in the Goa assembly. “Only one notification needs to be issued,” he said, noting that directions for issuing the notification will come from the Union home minister in consultation with the Goa chief minister.He said that a delegation had recently met the Union law minister and the law secretary to push the matter forward and will continue to follow up in the coming days. Tawadkar added that the chief minister and the state party leadership have been informed about the proposed meeting with Shah.Tawadkar said a Tribal Vision Document 2037 is being prepared to empower the 20-30% of the ST population that continues to remain educationally and economically backward, with the aim of integrating them into the mainstream. The document will outline 11 focus areas, including education, healthcare, livelihood generation, and infrastructure, and will assess the interventions required to uplift tribal communities.He also said that govt plans to set up Adivasi Suvidha Kendras in regions where the ST population exceeds 30%. Tawadkar was speaking during the inauguration of the Tribal Vision Document “2037” at Ravindra Bhavan in Margao. The Tribal Exchange Visit Programme was organised by the Tribal Research Institute Goa in collaboration with directorate of tribal welfare, govt of Goa and the ministry of tribal affairs.
