Patna/Gaya: Federation of University Teachers Associations of Bihar (FUTAB) on Wednesday took strong exception to the state govt’s handling of salary and pension payments, and demanded a robust mechanism to ensure timely disbursal, even as a technical glitch has delayed payments to over 6,000 teaching and non-teaching employees of Magadh University (MU).Terming the move as having “flawed intent and an empty treasury”, FUTAB has warned of a statewide protest at university headquarters on July 1 if corrective steps are not taken.FUTAB working president Kanhaiya Bahadur Sinha and general secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh said the govt, following the chief minister’s intervention, released an ad hoc grant for payment of salary and pension covering three months (March–May) on Tuesday night. However, the funds were routed through a newly created pay and pension ledger by the higher education department, which is yet to be fully operational.They said the new ledger cannot function until all employee and pensioner IDs from the old system are migrated, a process likely to take several days. “Had universities been informed in advance, the transition could have been smoother,” they said, alleging administrative lapses.The issue is more acute in Magadh University, Bodh Gaya, where despite the release of Rs 147.28 crore on June 12 for salary and pension payments, disbursal has been stalled due to the same technical problem. The payments, pending since Feb 2026, have left employees and pensioners waiting for nearly four months.MU registrar Binod Kumar Mangalam confirmed the glitch, stating that funds were transferred to a new PL ledger, replacing the earlier one linked to individual IDs. Around 300 IDs are being mapped daily, and the process may take up to two weeks. He clarified that gratuity, provident fund and leave encashment payments would remain unaffected as these are maintained separately, with retirees to be prioritised.MU has over 4,500 pensioners, besides around 450 teachers and nearly 800 non-teaching staff. Officials attributed the high pension burden to past bifurcations, under which several colleges were carved out to form new universities.
