Bihar education department orders salary scrutiny for over 6 lakh teaching, non-teaching staff

Bihar government directed its education department to scrutinise the salaries and allowances of the officers, teachers and non-teaching staff before making the payroll of November, 2026. The decision came after irregularities in salary processing were flagged by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), a report by Press Trust of India (PTI) said.

Salary payments for workers around the state may be delayed due to the scrutiny. Additionally, the government has instructed the agency to ensure that excess funds paid are recovered while withholding payments to individuals deemed to be accountable for irregularities.

The education department of Bihar government has more than six lakh teachers and other staff. In a letter dated October 9, Finance Department Principal Secretary Vinay Kumar directed senior officials to examine salary bills and ensure accountability at every stage of the payment process, PTI reported.

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Salary bill scrutiny

According to PTI, the finance department has mandated that salary bills be verified prior to the delivery of the following month's salary. According to the letter, senior department officers are required to look into the pay and benefits of all officers, teachers, and non-teaching employees, including headmasters.

Additionally, the letter directs the department to prosecute the officers in charge of processing salaries irregularly. It says, "Appropriate disciplinary and administrative action must be ensured against any Maker, Checker or Approver found responsible for irregularities at any stage of salary processing. Recovery of excess payments must also be ensured.”

The department has been asked to recover excess payments and assign the responsibility of salary processing to other employees. The official duties of Maker, Checker, and Approver are performed by officials on the Human Resource Management System (HRMS) portal, where salary bills are processed online. PTI reported that the Comprehensive Financial Management System (CFMS) is used to make payments, as indicated in the letter.

CAG flags irregularities

According to Deputy Chief Minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav, this step was taken in response to the CAG's discovery of irregularities in the education department's salary bill processing. According to Yadav, who also oversees the finance portfolio, the finance department ordered a review of salary and benefits before the upcoming payment cycle.

Priority-based compliance instructions have been issued. All district magistrates have also received copies of the letter from the finance department so they may review it and take the appropriate action, according to PTI.

The scrutiny is intended to identify irregular payments, establish responsibility among officials involved in processing salary bills, and ensure that excess payments are recovered. The review could affect the timing of salary disbursements for education department employees across Bihar.

Source: Press Trust of India (PTI)