Keralam govt. tightens norms for contract renewal of NHM, NAM employees

National Health Mission logo. The State government has decided to tighten the norms for the renewal of the contracts of the employees of National Health Mission (NHM) as well as the National Ayush Mission (NAM).This could potentially impact the prospects of 17,000-odd NHM employees and close to 3,500 employees under NAM.As of now, the government has issued an order dated August 31, extending the contract period of eligible contractual employees by another two months but has made it clear that the extension will not be automatic for all existing employees.Three-month extensionThe new order comes as the three-month extension granted to NHM contractual employees from May 30, 2026, ended on August 31. The government had earlier stated that further decisions would be taken at the appropriate time.The order issued by the Health and Family Welfare department on August 31 states that the two-month extension of contract would be granted to employees after assessing their performance and considering the requirement for their services.State Mission Director of NHM has been directed to conduct a staff-wise assessment in the case of employees who fulfil the eligibility criteria and whose continued services are considered necessary to meet the operational requirements of NHM. The two-month extension is to be granted on the basis of this assessment and the availability of sanctioned posts and funds.The same will be true in the case of the employees of NAM.The contracts of NAM employees had initially been extended up to March 31, 2027, but this was subsequently fixed as August 31, 2026 on government directions.The government has now extended the contract of NAM employees for two months till October 31, 2026, again subject to the employee performance, functional requirements, workload and sanctioned positions and availability of funds, which will be assessed by the State Mission Director of NAM. Published - September 01, 2026 08:04 pm IST