MARGAO: Environment Minister Alina Saldanha has said the resolution adopted in the Goa Legislative Assembly demanding special status for Goa is not the end, but the demand will be achieved only if a similar resolution is passed in Parliament.
Speaking at a meeting at Chinchinim under the banner of Goa’s Movement for Special status on Sunday, Alina said she was carrying forward the movement started by her late husband Matanhy Saldanha to get special status for Goa. While asserting that Goa is on the verge of loosing its identity, she said that only land admeasuring 362 sq kilo metres was left for habitation and needs to be saved for future generations. “It is the rich from outside the State that have been purchasing land in Goa for a second holiday home. Price of land has reached beyond control and Goans are unable to afford to buy land for themselves,” he said.
Saying that the State has reached a saturation point with the influx of people from other parts of the country, Alina said it is time to freeze the population, but lamented Goans are obsessed with sale of land, while requesting the villagers to protect their land for future generations.
In his address, Velim MLA Benjamin D’Silva said the Congress MLAs in the State should demand and force the Congress government at the Centre to grant Goa special status. The MLA explained the need to support the ongoing movement so that the dream is finally achieved, while expressing his anguish over the poor response for the meeting.
In his address, Amol Navelkar said the previous government has finished Goa during the last 33 years. He challenged the former MLAs for a debate on what laws had been framed for the benefit of Goans. Comunidade lands, he claimed, have been used to create vote banks by politicians and underlined the need for special status to ensure that only laws beneficial to the State’s interests are framed by our legislators.
Adv Yogesh Gaitonde, Zarina D’Cunha Dr Savia Viegas and Serafino Cotta also addressed the meeting. Earlier Jacinto Fernandes welcomed the gathering.
