Teachers threaten statewide agitation over salary delay in Maharashtra schools | Mumbai News
3 min readMumbaiUpdated: Apr 13, 2026 10:40 PM IST
Teachers across aided and government schools in Maharashtra have threatened to launch a statewide agitation if their salaries for March are not released within the week, as delays stretch well beyond the usual payment cycle.
The warning comes amid growing anger among teaching and non-teaching staff, many of whom say they have been left struggling to manage household expenses, loan EMIs and children’s education costs. Salaries, typically credited within the first two to three days of the month, remain unpaid even on April 13, leaving employees in the dark with no official communication from the state’s school education department.
The Maharashtra Purogami Teachers Association has formally written to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and senior education officials, calling the delay a serious procedural lapse and demanding immediate intervention.
“Monthly salary is a basic right, and this delay is absolutely unacceptable. If salaries are not disbursed within this week, we will initiate a statewide agitation,” said Tanaji Kamble, state president of the association. He added that while the government may be investigating irregularities, “it is unjust to penalise honest employees by withholding their salaries.”
Teachers say the delay has already caused tangible financial strain.
“Even if there are occasional delays at the end of the financial year, this is far beyond normal. We are now waiting for nearly half a month. It has become difficult to manage basic expenses,” said a senior teacher from a Mumbai school.
Mahesh Palkar, Director of School Education (Secondary) denied any connection between salary delay and ongoing verification process on Shalarth system. “This is general delay due to end of financial year, which is not uncommon. Bills have been issued now and salary will be disbursed soon,” he said. Officials have informally indicated that the delay is linked to a technical glitch in the Shalarth system, the state’s payroll platform used for disbursing salaries. The issue coincides with an ongoing digital verification drive of employee records, launched after a scam involving fraudulent Shalarth IDs used to generate illegal salary payments.
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Union representatives said the verification process, aimed at improving transparency, should not disrupt timely salary payments.
“Irregularities must be investigated, but genuine employees should not suffer due to administrative lapses,” Kamble said.
