Bihar has stopped salary payments to around 10.30 lakh personnel in its education and home departments after excess withdrawals from state treasuries were detected, with inquiries ordered into suspected irregularities across several districts.
The freeze affects about nine lakh officers, teachers and employees in the education department and 1.30 lakh police personnel. Deputy chief minister and finance minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said payments would resume only after the inquiries were completed and action was taken against those found responsible.
Yadav said the Comptroller and Auditor General of India’s report on the education and home departments had been tabled in the Bihar assembly and examined by the House’s Public Accounts Committee. The CAG office in Patna is now likely to examine salary payments in government departments following the findings, according to the report.
The state’s inquiries will examine excess salary withdrawals and the possible involvement of officials who prepare, verify and approve salary slips. Salary slips issued over the past five years will be matched with treasury records, along with other relevant details, the finance department has directed.
Irregularities have been detected in Patna, Bhagalpur, Aurangabad, Supaul, Banka, Samastipur and other districts. Preliminary inquiries by the education department in Patna, Bhagalpur and Supaul have identified about 5,000 suspected cases.
According to the preliminary findings, the alleged irregularities involved possible collusion between beneficiaries and employees responsible for preparing, checking and approving salary slips. Sources cited in the report also alleged that Bihar’s two centralised systems, the Human Resources Management System and the Comprehensive Financial Management System, were tampered with.
One preliminary education department inquiry found cases in which excess amounts ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh were allegedly withdrawn against a monthly salary of Rs 52,000. The finance department has directed the education and home departments to investigate the withdrawals involving all 10.30 lakh personnel covered by the order.
The government has said that the excess amount withdrawn will be recovered from those found responsible after the inquiry is completed. The investigations will determine the extent of the suspected withdrawals, identify the officials and beneficiaries involved, and establish whether the digital salary and financial-management systems were compromised.
