Bihar has stopped salary payments to around 10.30 lakh education and police personnel after alleged excess withdrawals from state treasuries triggered inquiries across several government departments, with salary records from the past five years now set to be matched against treasury data.
The affected employees include approximately nine lakh officers, teachers and other staff in the education department and 1.30 lakh police personnel in the home department. Deputy chief minister and finance minister Bijendra Prasad Yadav said salary 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. “Based on the CAG report, inquiries have been ordered into excess salary withdrawals in the education and home departments,” he told reporters on Thursday.
The CAG office in Patna is now likely to examine salary payments across government departments following the findings. The finance department has directed the education and home departments to investigate withdrawals involving the 10.30 lakh personnel. The inquiry will examine the possible role of employees who prepare, verify and approve salary slips.
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 report.
The investigation will compare salary slips issued over the past five years with treasury records and examine other relevant details. The finance minister said any excess amount withdrawn would be recovered from those found responsible after the inquiry is completed.
According to preliminary findings cited in the report, the alleged irregularities involved possible collusion between beneficiaries and employees responsible for preparing, checking and approving salary slips. The government’s centralised Human Resources Management System and Comprehensive Financial Management System portals were also allegedly tampered with, sources said.
One preliminary education department finding involved cases in which excess amounts ranging from Rs 6 lakh to Rs 9 lakh were allegedly withdrawn against a monthly salary of Rs 52,000.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 report did not specify the total amount involved across the two departments.
The stoppage places the state’s payroll administration and financial controls under scrutiny while the inquiries continue. It also brings the interaction between employee databases, salary approval processes and treasury systems into focus, particularly in departments with large workforces distributed across districts.
The state government has not announced a fixed deadline for completing the inquiries or restoring the suspended salary payments. Further action, including recovery of excess withdrawals, will follow the findings of the departmental investigations, according to the finance minister.
