ST quota, forest rights if voted to power: Cong

Panaji: Congress on Saturday promised to provide political reservation to the Schedule Tribe (ST) community of Goa and settle Forest Rights Act (FRA) claims within a year if the INDIA bloc forms govt at the Centre.

“We will establish a national mission for the Forest Rights Act. Settlement of all pending FRA claims will be done within one year and rejected claims will be settled within six months,” state Congress president Amit Patkar said.

He said that 9,500 FRA cases are pending in Goa.

Patkar said that BJP had earlier promised to support the ST community in 2011, which is why the community backed BJP in subsequent elections.

“BJP gave a promise in 2011 and it has been 10 years where it had a double-engine govt. So why did they not give political reservation to the ST community? The ST community has not got the political reservation it asked for. BJP used the community and then ignored them and the 12 demands that they had put forth,” said Patkar.

Patkar and the party’s Goa desk incharge Manickrao Thakare also condemned Union home minister Amit Shah’s speech. They said that BJP is dividing the country based on communal lines.

“If any party is asking for votes or campaigning based on religion, then it is contrary to the tenets of the Constitution. This religion is bigger and that religion is small, such statements are not in line with the country’s values. The Constitution provides protection and the right to profess every religion, including Hinduism. Claims of BJP that Congress is anti-Hindu are just a way to create anxiety in the minds of the voters,” said Thakare.