PANAJI
The State Government on Thursday notified rules for the one-time regularisation of contractual employees who have completed at least 10 years of continuous service across government departments and government-controlled bodies.
The Department of Personnel has notified Goa (Contractual Employees Regularization in Service) Rules, 2026 that would apply to contractual employees who had completed 10 years of continuous service on the post as on the date the rules come into force. Employees engaged under Centrally Sponsored Schemes are excluded and will continue to be governed by specific schemes/ rules.
At the same time, the government has banned further contractual recruitment by departments and government bodies, except for specific purposes such as consultants, field experts, specialised manpower or manpower required under State or Central government schemes.
The notification comes after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s assurance on the floor of the House.
The order provides for regularisation against Group ‘A’, ‘B’ and ‘C’ posts, including erstwhile Group ‘D’ posts, as a one-time measure.
However, regularisation will not be automatic. Employees must have possessed the prescribed educational qualification and been within the maximum age limit under the recruitment rules applicable at the time of their initial appointment.
They must also have been appointed through the due selection process for direct recruits. Their continuous service must not have been secured through any court or tribunal order. They must have a satisfactory character and antecedent verification and must not be facing criminal or departmental proceedings.
Significantly, the notification states that “no order of regularisation/ appointment shall be issued without approval of the Chief Minister.” Regularisation will take effect from the date the competent authority passes the order and will be subject to satisfactory completion of the prescribed probation period.
The government has also provided that if eligible contractual employees outnumber existing vacancies, additional posts will be deemed to have been created for their regularisation. Such posts, however, will be personal to the incumbent and will stand abolished once the employee vacates the post. Reservation requirements will have to be maintained in accordance with the applicable reservation roster.
The rules make clear that the regularised employees will not receive arrears, seniority or any other benefit retrospectively from their original date of joining on contract.
Departments and government bodies have been directed to seek an option from eligible contractual employees regarding regularisation, with the option once exercised being final. They must also prepare and submit lists of eligible employees to the Department of Personnel within 15 days of the rules coming into force.
While banning further contractual recruitment, the government said that specific-purpose contractual appointments done if requires, will carry no right to regularisation, and the contracts must end upon completion of the assigned work or purpose or expiry of the contractual period, whichever is earlier. Contracts cannot ordinarily be renewed or extended, with a fresh contract required if the specific work continues.
The notification further fixes the seniority of regularised contractual employees below the junior-most employee in the relevant cadre as on the date of the regularisation order, with their inter-se seniority to be governed by the Seniority Rules, 1967.
