Retirements continue to outpace recruitment, leaving over 1,000 vacancies across the force
PANAJI
Days after South Goa Superintendent of Police Santosh Desai and at least seven other personnel retired from service on May 31, Goa Police finds itself battling a far larger crisis – a force depleted by more than 1,000 vacancies with frontline police stations also struggling to maintain operational strength.
Official sources stated that with an average of 10 personnel retiring every month, the manpower drain continues to outpace fresh recruitment.
While The Goan on Wednesday highlighted the acute shortage of Deputy Superintendents of Police, official deployment data accessed by The Goan further reveals an equally alarming picture lower down the ranks, with vacancies crippling police stations, traffic units, coastal security, intelligence wings and criminal investigation units – the very backbone of day-to-day policing and public safety.
The figures show that Goa Police is operating with around 1,036 vacancies across ranks with the deficit particularly severe in the supervisory cadre. More than one-third of Police Sub-Inspector posts remain vacant, while nearly 28 per cent of sanctioned posts for women PSIs are unfilled. This however excludes 126 PSI recruits who were just recently given offer letters.
The shortages are most visible at police stations where citizens first encounter law enforcement.
Across North Goa, several police stations are functioning well below sanctioned strength. Panaji Police Station, among the busiest, is operating with a shortfall of nearly 37 personnel, including PSIs and constables.
Pernem PS is short of around 29 personnel, Mapusa PS has a deficit of 34, while Calangute PS – responsible for one of Goa’s busiest tourism belts – is functioning with 19 fewer personnel than authorised.
The crisis is even more pronounced in South Goa with Margao Town PS, overseeing the largest urban and commercial centre, operating with 106 staff – a shortage of around 46 personnel against a sanctioned strength of 152. Maina-Curtorim PS is short of 50 personnel, while Vasco PS records one of the largest deficits in the State, functioning with 60 fewer personnel than sanctioned.
The strain extends beyond conventional policing. The Coastal Security PS is also functioning with only 201 personnel against a sanctioned strength of 348 – a deficit of 147 personnel.
Similarly, the specialised investigation units are also under the same category as the Crime Investigation Department's formations, including the Anti-Narcotic Cell and the Crime Branch at Ribandar, together report a shortage of 330 personnel.
The State's intelligence-gathering network is also operating below strength. The Special Branch, responsible for intelligence collection, security assessments and monitoring sensitive developments, is functioning with a deficit of 49 personnel across its various centres.
Traffic formations collectively account for the largest manpower deficit in the force, with 481 vacancies.
The vacancies continue despite large-scale recruitment drives undertaken in recent years, with the government acknowledging that Goa currently has a police-to-population ratio of 413 personnel per lakh population.
Goa Police recruited 1,082 personnel in 2023 and another 820 in 2024. But retirements and attrition have steadily eroded those gains. During 2024 alone, the force recorded 102 retirements and lost another 30 personnel through deaths, resignations and dismissals.
The trend has continued this year. In 2025, recruitment dropped sharply to just 14 personnel, while 69 officers retired and another 22 exited service through attrition.
The department has submitted proposals to the government for the creation of additional posts and initiated recruitment processes to fill existing vacancies.
