Shillong, Dec 20: The State government has released one-month advance salary to about 80,000 employees and pensioners ahead of the Christmas festivities.
In a statement, the Finance Department said the advance payment was made to 50,000 employees and over 30,000 pensioners, as well as for all casual and contractual employees working across the State.
The funds released included Rs 348.1 crore for salaries, Rs 93.4 crore for pensions, Rs 9.7 crore for wages and Rs 4.1 crore for contractual workers, the department said.
Additional funds of Rs 255.5 cores have also been released this financial year to the three autonomous district councils to help clear current and pending salaries.
Contractors’ bills have also been released. Under Major Works (Head 53), Rs 416.1 crore was released, while Minor Works (Head 27) drew Rs 154.7 crore. The Public Works department received the highest share at Rs 256.4 crore, followed by Urban Affairs (Rs 102.5 crore), Public Health Engineering (Rs 68.6 crore), Sports and Youth Affairs (Rs 60 crore), Power (Rs 60 crore) and Health and Family Welfare (Rs 14 crore).
Major department-wise fund allocations in December stood at Rs 664.1 crore, led by Community and Rural Development (Rs 102.9 crore), Power (Rs 101.2 crore), District Council Affairs (Rs 101 crore), Planning (Rs 80.9 crore) and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Rs 69.5 crore).
Separately, Rs 23 crore was disbursed through DBT to 92,051 beneficiaries under the Focus+ scheme.
The department said overall the total release from state resources in December stood at Rs. 1,602.9 crore, marking a 30.8 per cent increase compared to Rs. 1,225.2 crore released during the same month last year.
