Goa, June 11 -- Having lived on the mar gins for long, the recognition of the indigenous tribal communities as Scheduled Tribes (ST) in 2003 marked an important milestone in acknowledging their historical presence and socio-cultural distinc tiveness. "Over time, members of Goa's tribal community have increasingly begun to articulate their social and political aspirations," observed sen ior Goa University faculty member Dr Arvind Haldankar during a re cent interaction with students from the University of Porto, Portugal.

The Scheduled Tribe (ST) popula tion in Goa accounts for 10.23% of the state's total population. Based on the 2011 Census, this equates to roughly 1,49,275 tribal individuals out of the State's 14,58,545 resi dents. While...