This is a story of Goa’s only head of the State who died in harness. Mulk Raj Sachdev, who was the second Lieutenant Governor of the Union Territory of Goa, Daman and Diu; from 12th September 1963 till the time he passed away on 8th December 1964 at Raj Bhavan Goa due to a heart attack.
In his brief reign, Sachdev had the task of administration of Goa during the first election held in December 1963. “The first democratically elected government of UT of Goa Daman and Diu was sworn in under his aegis. During his time here in Goa, the former LG visited quite a lot of places and also installed Press Club of Goa to shape the umbrella organisation of Goan media,” stated Sanjeev Sardesai, a renowned historian, who gave an insight into the huge respect that the efficient administrator and affable personality Sachdev had garnered narrating that then Chief Minister Dayanand Bandodkar among other dignitaries had volunteered to act as Pall bearers to carry his body to its final resting place.
It is hard to believe that late Sachdev’s modest memorial at Miramar had been forgotten and gave way to trees over the next five decades.Thanks to the persistent efforts of Sanjeev Sardesai through his Hands-On-Historians Forum, the ‘samadhi’ literally saw a better day in 2012 with support of then Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo and Goa Tourism Development Corporation MD Nilhil Desai.
There onwards on the death anniversary (8th December) every year, Sanjeev has been a consistent force in driving the initiative in the memory of the 2nd Lt Governor of Goa. This year though, the occasion turned out to be a milestone as a sitting Governor, for the first time in the history of Goa, visited the Memorial and paid the tribute to the forgotten hero. PS Sreedharan Pillai also assured to ‘try level best’ to ‘execute and implement’ the request made by Sanjeev Sardesai on behalf of the the Goans to upgrade the ‘Samadhi’ into a mausoleum to celebrate their contribution to Goa and establish their legacy for future generations to connect with! Moreover, it will allow people including tourists to visit and pay their respect.
This year the death anniversary function was held on the eve (7th December) due to unavailability of Governor on the actual day, as emphasised by Sanjeev Sardesai that it also marked the first time that the tribute were being paid in a formal manner. Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte also paid tribute to the late Sachdev.
