Patna: Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh on Monday said the state does not have funds to implement the high court order to pay arrears from 2009 to teachers on contract.

The court order, that teachers on contact were eligible for pay and other benefits on a par with their regular counterparts, had come as huge relief for around 3.5 lakh teachers who have been agitating for the past five years.

"If the government decides to pay arrears to teachers on contract, then the government would have to suspend all its developmental projects," Anjani told The Telegraph on Monday.

He said Rs 75,000 crore would be needed to pay arrears and salaries from 2009 to such teachers. The entire budgetary allocation of the state education department is Rs 25,251.39 crore.

M. Ramachandrudu director (primary education), agreed: "The fund paucity at the education department can be gauged from the fact that recently we gave salaries to teachers till June and we have to pay salaries for July, August, September, October and November but all the fund has been exhausted."

The state gets funds from the Centre under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) for elementary education but the grants are inadequate, said Sanjay Kumar Singh, state project director (Bihar Education Project Council). "The expenses on salaries to teachers in elementary education have gone up to Rs 3,500 crore in 2014 to Rs 8,000 crore at present, while the financial assistance under the SSA has remained the same - around 2,500 crore," Sanjay said.

The state has also decided to move the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court order, education department sources said.

Secondary teachers association general secretary Shatrughan Prasad Singh, however, claimed: "The government is misleading the court and the people. There is no shortage of funds."