Subject : Goa Opinion Poll Day 

I welcome this move on the long standing demand to commemorate & officially recognize Goa’s Historic Opinion Poll Day.  

A Day when Goans decided that Goa would remain a separate state & identity vs. being Merged with another state

However, this is not enough and more needs to be done to preserve Goa’s Unique Land, Environment, Character & Identity Based on the below facts:

1) Our Land is Being bought out by rich money bags ( mostly in black money ) from people outside the state. Land is now too scarce and expensive for Goans to buy. How will Goa retain its identity if majority of land will not be in Goan hands ?

2) Goa’s Land, Water bodies, Hills, Environment etc are being ravaged by many times by unplanned &  destructive development; which just copy/pastes the general Indian model of development that does not take into account Goa’s unique facts as a small state. What is Goa’s Identity without all of the latter !

3) At liberation time, majority of people in Goa spoke Konkani and we all know language is the key identifier of any state/ culture / identity. Today due to uncontrolled Influx of people into Small Goa and no plan to promote/implement Konkani in the state, Konkani speakers are now falling into a minority. 

4) To reiterate, Small Goa with a small population can’t afford to take in uncontrolled too large number of people from outside the state and that too without any plans to integrate them to some point with the local character.  Goans make a big part of Goa’s identity and what will be if Goans are irrelevant in Goa? 

5) Due to a lack of a proper environment & local friendly employment business and job policies, many Goans are now acquiring foreign passports in alarming numbers way beyond the normal limits! Also other factors influencing the same are the excessive corruption, the growing levels of filth/garbage/uncleanliness and the most of the points mentioned above. 

Let’s not forget Goa is not asking for too much. We are just asking India to honor its promise to the World and Goans when it took over a Goa by force in 1961; ie. Goa’s Identity and Way Of life will be preserved by India.