Former Deputy Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly and ex minister Victoria Fernandes passed away in wee hours on Saturday after prolonged illness. She was 85. According to family sources, she died while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in the capital city. Fernandes was also a cabinet minister and had held portfolios like Agriculture, Fisheries, Tourism, Animal Husbandry, Women and Child Development. She was Deputy Speaker of the Assembly from July 8, 2005 to June 8, 2007. She was MLA from St Cruz for four terms. She would help downtrodden masses of the state and was interested in youth development and solving problems of women and children.
Fernandes had spearheaded many agitations like agitation against inclusion of Panchayat areas in the Planning Development Authorities, agitation against the prevention of dumping of garbage at Banguinim, near Old Goa where sacred relics of St Francis Xavier are kept and participated in the movement to save Goa from destruction and scrapping of the Regional Plan 2011. Since 1966 to 1987, for almost 21 years, she had participated in all the agitations for getting the Official Language Status for Konkani. Language and Statehood for Goa.
