Patna: Around 220 affiliated degree colleges in Bihar are still awaiting government grants for the past eight undergraduate academic sessions, leaving nearly 25,000 teaching and non-teaching staff without salaries. These grants, disbursed based on academic performance, have not been released due to procedural delays and gaps in required documentation.
The Education Department has directed concerned universities to submit investigation reports on the grant claims. However, many colleges have yet to upload staff details to the designated portals, a mandatory step for verification.
Bihar’s grant system for affiliated colleges is performance-linked: Rs 8,500 is allocated when a male student passes in first division, and Rs 8,700 when a female student does. The amounts decrease to Rs 8,000 and Rs 8,200 respectively for second division, and Rs 7,500 and Rs 7,700 for third division.
Colleges are expected to meet 70% of their internal income targets to qualify. Once verified, grants are to be deposited into a separate account titled “grant of affiliated colleges,” with the funds exclusively used for salaries. Institutions are required to maintain separate cash books, submit utilisation certificates within a month, and provide audit reports by registered auditors or chartered accountants to the Education Department.
The delay has had a severe impact on the financial well-being of college staff, with many dependent solely on these grants for their livelihood. The department’s insistence on audit compliance and digital reporting aims to ensure transparency, but implementation on the ground remains a challenge.
