CM and oppn spar over low use of tribal welfare funds, vacant ST posts
The assembly on Tuesday saw a heated debate between chief minister Pramod Sawant and opposition MLAs over the alleged underutilisation of funds earmarked for tribal welfare in the state and the delay in filling up posts reserved for STs.
The opposition MLAs also said the state failed to meet its promise of providing political reservation of seats in the assembly to tribals by 2025.
While the CM said that 82% of funds meant for tribal welfare were utilised in Goa, the highest for any state, the opposition disputed this.
'The tribal sub-plan has not crossed 5.2% when it should be 10.2%. The roster for reserved posts in govt offices is manipulated,' said Fatorda MLA Vijai Sardesai.
'The state has not yet notified the tribal scheduled areas or taken any steps in this direction to this day.' He said, 'The file for the promotion of an ST police inspector to DySP is pending vigilance clearance.'
Sawant said the notification of tribal scheduled areas is pending due to some technical issues and the matter will be resolved soon.
St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar said that 852 vacancies for STs are yet to be filled in the PWD, general administration, and commercial taxes.
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'Some departments don't even know tribal welfare funds exist and Rs 69 crore meant for tribal welfare are pending utilisation,' he said.
'We have recently provided training by the finance department to departments like PWD, the DDW, and the WRD to utilise funds for tribal welfare,' said Sawant.
The CM said the ST reserved posts' backlog is mostly in new posts besides promotions backlog. 'We will clear all promotion posts' backlog within six months,' he said.
'Tribal reservation was introduced twice in Parliament and a ruckus by the opposition led to it not being passed. If anyone opposed the tribal bill, it is the opposition and Congress,' said Sawant.
Opposition leader Yuri Alemao, said, 'Why did they not pass it without opposition as you have done in the assembly earlier?'
Sawant said that he has already pressed for the demand for political reservation for STs with the central ministers and said that though the state wanted the implementation to take place in 2027, it will now be seen that it is implemented as soon as possible.
Benaulim MLA Venzy Viegas said that the tribal vision document of govt is a sham, with the promise of the Tribal Bhavan still pending.
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