Goa, June 8 -- CLEOFATO ALMEIDA COUTINHO

In a year, Goa will celebrate four dec ades of Statehood. The movement for Statehood was targeted to pro tect the 'idea of Goa'. The geographical identity was secured through political struggle which culminated in the 1967 Opinion Poll, and the Konkani language was also confirmed in 1985, though there remains a dispute over the Roman script. With the identity and language issues settled, all that was required was the tailoring of economic & land poli cies for Goa's unique geographical land scape, taking into consideration the size of the State and the scarcity of land. It was political sagacity that made the de mand for Statehood. As a Union Territory, Goa had a leg islative assembly, though the u...