Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla has urged the Goa government to prepare a 25-year roadmap for the state, linking future development with the aspirations of young people, women and the most vulnerable sections of society. He made the appeal at the inauguration of the four-day silver jubilee celebrations of the Goa Assembly complex.
Birla said the proposed roadmap should include public participation in democratic institutions and strengthen the role of those institutions in shaping the state’s future. He described the legislative assembly as the place where the opinions of all sections of society should be considered.
The call comes as Goa marks 25 years of its legislative complex, placing the state’s long-term development choices alongside a commemoration of its democratic institutions. Birla said Goa continued to face the challenge of pursuing development while protecting its environment and heritage.
He also said that Goa, despite being a small state, had been able to provide jobs to lakhs of people. The remarks linked the state’s employment performance with the need for a longer-term development framework, although no specific sectors, targets, funding arrangements or implementation timeline for the proposed roadmap were announced at the event.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Goa would have completed 75 years of Liberation if it had been liberated in 1947, adding that Goans regretted the 14-year delay in Liberation. His remarks formed part of the wider commemoration of the state’s political and institutional history.
Goa Assembly Speaker Ganesh Gaonkar said the Assembly had sought to preserve its institutional memory through a commemorative volume titled “The House of Goa: 25 Years Of Democracy, Debate And Legacy”. He said the publication was intended to serve as an enduring institutional record for future generations rather than only as a record of the silver jubilee celebrations.
Gaonkar also highlighted Goa’s student parliament initiative, saying only a few legislative assemblies conduct such forums. The initiative was presented as part of the Assembly’s efforts to connect younger citizens with democratic institutions.
The event also saw a political disagreement over the functioning of the Assembly. Leader of the Opposition Yuri Alemao criticised the curtailment of the 2026 budget session following the announcement of the Ponda bypoll. He described the move as “thoroughly unwarranted” and said other assemblies had continued functioning after elections were announced. Alemao said the decision should not become a precedent in Goa.
Former speakers, a former chief minister, former MLAs and sitting MLAs were felicitated during the programme. Governor P A Gajapathi Raju released a customised ‘My Stamp’ and a special cover prepared by the postal department to mark the silver jubilee of the legislative complex.
The governor said a developed India must also be a deeply democratic India, and that a developed Goa must be one where democratic institutions remain vibrant, trusted and responsive. The event did not specify when the proposed 25-year roadmap would be drafted or which government department would lead its preparation.
