Maharashtra’s School Education Department has found 9,509 employees working above sanctioned staffing levels across 3,625 schools, prompting officials to seek explanations on staff adjustments and payroll records linked to the Shalarth system.
The findings emerged from a preliminary review of staffing and salary-related data discussed during a video conference held on October 28. Primary Education Director Sharad Gosavi and Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Director Dr Mahesh Palkar have directed divisional deputy education officials, education officers and pay unit superintendents to examine the discrepancies and submit explanations.
The review also identified 1,484 excess non-teaching employees across 1,206 schools. The department has asked the relevant education authorities to clarify how these employees should be adjusted against sanctioned staffing positions.
The discrepancies extend beyond excess staffing. In 612 schools, posts were shown as sanctioned under staffing approval records, but employees were not found working against them. A further 3,642 schools had no employees recorded in the staffing approval data or in the Shalarth system. In 842 schools, employees were listed on Shalarth even though staffing approval records were not available, according to the report.
The department also identified 10,695 employees who were detached from their drawing and disbursing officer, or DDO, codes. Decisions concerning their service status remain pending, the report said. DDO codes are used in government payroll administration and are relevant to the processing and accounting of salaries.
The review places the Shalarth system at the centre of a wider administrative exercise involving staffing approvals, employee records and salary payments in aided schools. The department’s directions seek to reconcile information across these records rather than relying on a single database for payroll-related decisions.
The education authorities have also been instructed to update provident fund records for employees of aided schools. The opening balance as of April 1, 2021, must be entered into the Shalarth system before November 15, according to the directions reported by Pudhari.
Officials have further been told to complete all pending work urgently to prevent technical difficulties when salaries for November 2026 are paid in December. The department has also directed authorities to ensure that regular employees receive their salaries on the first day of every month. The next administrative milestones are the submission of explanations on staffing adjustments and the completion of pending payroll and provident fund records within the specified deadlines.
