The Goa cabinet has approved an ordinance to amend the Goa Comunidades Employees (Conditions of Service) Act, 1981, creating a statutory framework for recruitment and service conditions in the offices of the Administrators of Comunidades and enabling the creation of additional posts.
The decision follows proposals from the Collectors of North Goa and South Goa, who said that staff augmentation had become necessary for the effective discharge of the statutory and administrative responsibilities assigned to the Administrators’ offices. The proposal was examined administratively by the Administrative Reforms Department before receiving cabinet approval.
Comunidades are traditional village community institutions whose active estates are administered through the offices of the Administrators of Comunidades. These offices are responsible for the superintendence and administration of all active Comunidades within their respective jurisdictions.
According to the cabinet’s explanation reported by the Times News Network, most posts originally sanctioned under Map No. 2 read with Articles 84 and 127 of the Code of Comunidades have subsequently been abolished. The Administrator is the only post that remains from the original sanctioned establishment, leaving the offices to function with an ad hoc workforce consisting predominantly of daily-wage and contractual employees.
The government said the limited manpower has created an excessive span of control for the existing staff, increased their workload and led to a substantial accumulation of pending work and arrears. The offices have also acquired additional statutory and administrative responsibilities over the years, increasing the pressure on the remaining establishment.
The work cited in the cabinet’s account includes implementation of the Mhaje Ghar Scheme, time-bound disposal of matters under the Right to Information Act, issues arising under Sections 372-B and 31-A of the Code of Comunidades, issuance of certified copies and other records, and matters related to the administration and supervision of Comunidades.
The proposed amendment is therefore linked not only to employee service conditions but also to the functioning of an administrative system that handles records, statutory applications and community-estate matters. Delays or staff shortages in these offices can affect the processing of documents and applications connected with Comunidades, although the supplied report does not specify the number of new posts, their designations or the timeline for recruitment.
The Collectors proposed the creation of posts commensurate with the current workload and functional requirements of the two offices. The cabinet said the proposal had been assessed by the Administrative Reforms Department before the ordinance was approved.
The ordinance will amend the 1981 Act, but the supplied report does not provide its final text, the detailed service rules or the implementation schedule. The next stage will involve the formal promulgation of the ordinance and the administrative process for creating and filling the posts proposed for the Offices of the Administrators of Comunidades.
