Silva calls for accountability over recurring Colvale jail lapses

MARGAO
Velim MLA Cruz Silva on Monday said that merely ordering probes, enquiries and investigations, transferring jail staff or shifting inmates to other states will not stop the continuing criminal activities, indiscipline and violations of jail rules at Central Jail Colvale.
He demanded that those responsible for such failures be suspended and, wherever guilt is established under law and service rules, terminated.
“The government has conducted enquiries, ordered investigations, transferred personnel and shifted inmates, yet the same problems keep returning. Drugs, mobile phones and other prohibited articles continue to find their way inside the jail. The answer is not another enquiry. The answer is accountability. If any staff member, officer or government servant is found responsible for facilitating these activities or for serious dereliction of duty, they must face suspension and termination as per law. Only this will bring this nuisance in our so-called corrective homes under control,” Silva said.
His statement comes amid the latest developments at Colvale Jail, including the arrest of a GHRDC security staffer in connection with the alleged attempt to carry narcotics into the prison and the subsequent arrest of an inmate. Prison authorities have also reportedly recovered mobile phones and SIM cards during searches.
Silva said the latest incident cannot be viewed in isolation. “How many times will the government investigate the same problem? How many times will staff be transferred? How many inmates will be shifted? If the system remains unchanged, the problem will simply continue. We need to identify the people responsible and impose consequences,” he questioned.
The MLA said the repeated recovery of mobile phones, narcotics and other prohibited articles indicates a systemic failure that cannot be addressed merely through periodic raids and enquiries.
“A prison is a controlled environment. A mobile phone or narcotic substance cannot simply appear inside. There has to be a failure of security, supervision or, if established, deliberate facilitation. Responsibility must therefore be fixed.”
Silva said investigations into criminal offences should continue, but departmental accountability cannot be indefinitely postponed.
He demanded that the government examine the entire prison security system, including entry and exit checks, CCTV monitoring, staff deployment, inmate searches, mobile-phone detection and supervision of personnel.
“Colvale Jail is supposed to be a corrective institution. It cannot become a place where criminal networks continue to operate. The government must now move from enquiries to accountability, from transfers to responsibility and from arrests to dismantling the entire network,” Silva said.