Appalling treatment in Goan jails
It is indeed shocking to hear about the sorry state of affairs in Goa's prisons. As the Inspector-General of Police, Elvis Gomes owes responsibility for these sordid happenings. How can undertrials, irrespective of their nationality, be assaulted and battered by jail officials?
There definitely needs to be an overhaul of how our jails in Goa operate. Special treatment that is provided to certain favoured criminals who are able to buy their way out to enjoy privileges including early release as in the case of Mickky Pacheco who was granted an early release by you on grounds that he worked in the bakery is downright shocking. Aren't prisoners supposed to take up some form of work while in jail and is that same privilege being granted to others - work in the bakery or other work units in our Goan jails?
Roger D’souza,
High profile arrests
It has been a week of ‘high profile judicial releases’ beginning with former Minister and Nuvem legislator Mickky Pacheco who, having earned a remission of sentence for good behaviour, walked out a free man from Sada jail where he was serving a six-month term for assaulting a government official. And now with the special court on Monday granting bail to former PWD minister Churchill Alemao and former JICA project director Anand Wachasundar in the sensational Louis Berger bribery case, it has come a full circle for the series of shocking arrests and imprisonments that hogged media attention for quite a while. Whether these ‘custodial detentions’ served the purpose they were meant to or not; in the span of a few months even a layman has come to understand the complex legalities which could lead to the arrest of an accused, or in some extreme cases, ensured that the suspect continued to evade apprehension, legally. It however continues to remain a big surprise as to how persons accused of having a hand in the same crime could have different yardsticks to judge their complicity.
Are the regular unearthing of scams and the spate of arrests and imprisonment that follow a mere eyewash? Would it be indicative of a ploy that serves to give the ruling dispensation a political leverage? But with such cases slowly receding out of the public domain without the government making any concerted effort to bring the culprits to book, it succeeds in only making ‘martyrs’ of those jailed. In the bargain, the sympathy they gather for being ‘wrongfully confined’ assures them a grand revival of their political careers.
Pachu Menon, Margao
Improve ferry services
Thousands of ferry commuters including 2-wheeler riders, motorists and others were stranded at various ferry wharfs in the state as the flotilla staff of the River Navigation Department (RND) struck work for just two hours following the notice given to the department. Even though the strike was for just two hours, thousands of commuters were inconvenienced. One can imagine the plight of the commuters if the staff of the River Navigation Department goes on strike for a full day. The entire state of Goa will probably come to a standstill. This underlines the importance of the ferry service. The number of commuters who are dependent on the ferry service have increased manifold over the years. The government needs sto introduce bigger ferries which move at a faster speed than those in use today. It is probably time the government looks into modernising the ferry service in the state.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
