Lok Sabha nod to bill to provide reservation to STs in Goa assembly amid din over Bihar SIR

The Lok Sabha on Tuesday passed a bill to provide reservation to Scheduled Tribes in the Goa assembly, even as opposition protests demanding a discussion on the revision of Bihar electoral rolls continued unabated.

Law Minister Arjun Ram Meghwal moved 'The Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Bill, 2025' for consideration and passage amid din in the House. The legislation was passed by a voice vote.

Meghwal said over the previous sessions, some amount of discussion on the draft law has already taken place. After his opening remarks outlining the features of the bill, it was passed without further discussion.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said on Monday that the government will be compelled to push for Parliament's approval for its legislative agenda if the Opposition continues to obstruct its smooth functioning with protests.

Incidentally, the bill was introduced in the Lower House on this day in 2024 and has been pending since then.

This is the first bill to be passed by the Lok Sabha in the ongoing Monsoon session, which has seen disruptions by the Opposition on various issues, including the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar.

After the passage of the bill, Sandhya Ray, who was in the chair, adjourned the proceedings for the day as protests by Opposition MPs continued unabated.

According to the bill, the population of the Scheduled Tribes has increased considerably in Goa as per the 2011 census vis-a-vis the 2001 census figures.

It noted that a ''peculiar situation'' has arisen in the state, wherein the population of the STs vis-a-vis the population of the SCs is considerably higher -- according to the Primary Census Abstract, 2011 for Goa.

The total population was 14,58,545; the population of SCs was 25,449, and the population of STs was 1,49,275.

''But no seats are reserved for the STs and they are unable to avail the constitutional benefit of reservation...'' 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.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)