Margao: A dominant view within the ST community is that only sustained pressure on state govt will compel it to complete the process of reservation of assembly seats before the 2027 polls — a sentiment that has prompted the leadership not to called off the Chalo Panaji morcha planned for Aug 13 just yet, despite the Centre’s notification bringing into force the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Act, 2025.Though buoyed by the notification, ST leaders remain skeptical over whether it will actually translate into reservation of seats in time for the next assembly elections. The year-long delay in issuing the notification after the Act came into being has only deepened a sense of distrust among tribal leaders towards govt’s intentions. The leadership was still undecided on the final course of action for the protest till late Sunday even as a meeting was under way.“Govt cannot be trusted to expedite the process without persistent pressure, and that is why we feel the Aug 13 Chalo Panaji protest should go ahead as planned,” a senior leader of the tribal movement said. “Govt is consumed by guilt over its own inaction — it took exactly a year to issue the notification after the bill was passed. If we withdraw our agitation at this stage, they will take their own sweet time to complete the process, as there is hardly any political will.”The leaders pointed out that chief minister Pramod Sawant has not, so far, asked them to call off their agitation. “BJP fed us sweets when the bill became an Act a year ago. Do they now have the face to ask us to step back, trusting their word? How are we to trust them again,” another leader said.Govind Shirodkar, a senior tribal leader, said the reservation process could well be completed within two-and-a-half months if govt showed the will to do so. “The population data is there, and so is the mandate. There is no reason to deny the tribals their constitutional right any further,” he said.The notification, issued by the Centre on Thursday, had been described by United Tribals Alliance Association (UTAA) president Prakash Velip as a “welcome move” but not the end of the movement. Velip had said the agitation would continue until the reservation of seats actually takes shape.
