Assam Finance minister Ajanta Neog on Saturday said that the Finance department had released the salary for contractual teachers under the secondary education department.

The salaries of 4,789 contractual under the secondary education department of the state government, amounting to ₹ 3,327.60 Lakhs was released today, the minister informed.

Notably, contractual teachers had not received their salaries for the months of November and December 2021 and complained of irregularities.

Taking to Twitter, Neog said, “Finance department has released salary amounting to INR 3,327.60 Lakhs for 4,789 contractual teachers under secondary education govt of assam @ranojpeguassam @CMOfficeAssam @AssamFinDept”.

Earlier in the day, the state Finance minister was at an event in Beltola where she said that the state’s Budget session will begin on March 14 where the budget for the financial year 2022-23 will be submitted.

Explaining on the Finance department’s directive prior to the budget submission, Neog said that the directives were released with the aim of cost reduction.

She said, “This directive aims to reduce the excess expenditure. Supplementary demands have to be raised for excessive budget proposals”.

The state Finance minister also reacted to the Cabinet’s directive related to schemes outside the budget saying that the decision was taken to create awareness among the people. The state’s revenue had increased compared to earlier, she added.

She said, “The amount of state revenue has increased as compared to earlier. This has increased the size of the budget.

Prior to the filing of the budget, the minister will hold discussions with the relevant stakeholders. Suggestions would be welcomed via the portal prior to that. All the departments would be able to submit their proposals up to March 5.