PANAJI: The state government on Tuesday decided to increase the number of panchayat wards reserved for Scheduled Caste (SC) from nine to 15 on the recommendation of Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.
“From nine, we have now made it to 15 wards, as there are as many as 16,132 people of SC community who are residing across Goa,” said Panchayat Minister Mauvin Godinho.
Director of Panchayats Sandhya Kamat said that this decision has been taken on the recommendation of the Chief Minister.
“It was the Chief Minister, who marked a note on the file of the delimitation of wards to increase the wards reserved for SC when it was sent for his approval,” said Kamat.
It is learnt that the state government will issue a notification on Wednesday. Later, the same will be sent to Goa State Election Commission after which by May 12, the panchayat election schedule will be officially announced by the Commission.