Around 200 NCERT contractual employees await salaries for four months

Around 200 contractual employees working on project-based assignments at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) headquarters in New Delhi have not received their salaries for the past four months.

The prolonged delay has left many employees struggling to meet household expenses, repay loans and pay children's school fees.

The affected employees are engaged under Project Approval Board (PAB) approved programmes funded by the Union Ministry of Education. They work across multiple NCERT departments on school education initiatives under Samagra Shiksha, including digital learning programmes such as DIKSHA, PM e-VIDYA, Jaadui Pitara and other NCERT projects.

Employees cite growing financial hardship

According to Hindustan Times, several employees, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the salary delay has created severe financial pressure.

Some employees said they have been forced to borrow money from friends and relatives, while others reported loan defaults, increasing penalties, difficulties in paying rent and challenges in meeting daily household expenses.

One employee told the publication that unpaid salaries had resulted in bounced home loan EMIs and mounting debt after borrowing money to continue living in Delhi. Another said he had taken loans to support his family and was struggling to pay rent and his children's school fees.

Contracts extended but salaries remain unpaid

Employees told Hindustan Times their contracts expired on 31 March and were subsequently extended, first until June and later until September.

However, salaries for April, May and June remain unpaid.

According to the employees, repeated enquiries with project coordinators and department heads resulted in explanations that funds from the Union Ministry of Education had not yet been released and required approvals were still pending.

One employee told the publication the administration had repeatedly informed staff it could not provide a timeline for salary payments until funding was received.

NCERT responds to employee concerns

Responding to queries from Hindustan Times, NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani said he had instructed the relevant departments to examine the issue immediately.

"I have asked the concerned departments to look into this immediately," Saklani said.

The report noted he did not comment on the reasons behind the delayed payments.

According to Hindustan Times, the Union Ministry of Education did not respond to queries seeking clarification on the reasons for the salary delay or when pending payments would be released.

Funding changes coincide with payment delays

The salary issue comes during a year of significant changes in funding approvals for NCERT's project-based activities.

According to budget figures cited by Hindustan Times:

• NCERT's overall Budget allocation increased by nearly 15%, from ₹593.71 crore in 2025-26 to ₹681.79 crore in 2026-27.
• The Project Approval Board (PAB) allocation for NCERT's annual work plan under Samagra Shiksha and other centrally funded programmes fell by nearly 22%, from ₹677.13 crore to ₹529.71 crore.

The report also noted the 2026-27 PAB meeting took place on 12 June, almost two months later than the previous year's meeting, which was held on 15 April.

Several employees told Hindustan Times they believe the delayed approval of the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) slowed the release of project funds and contributed to the salary delay. They also cited what they described as cost-control measures and pending ministry approvals.

PAB minutes call for resource optimisation

According to the report, minutes of the 2026-27 Project Approval Board meeting directed NCERT to optimise human resources, engage external personnel only where necessary and rationalise expenditure across several programmes.

However, the minutes do not explicitly link these directions to the delay in salary payments.

For now, the contractual employees continue to await payment while NCERT reviews the matter. With project contracts extended until September and no confirmed timeline for the release of pending salaries, employees remain dependent on administrative and funding decisions to resolve the issue.