The cabinet on Wednesday approved grants of over Rs 1,132 crore to clear payments of retired and serving employees of universities in the state.

The cabinet, at the meeting chief minister Nitish Kumar chaired, sanctioned Rs 588 crore to clear the payment of retired employees of universities as ordered recently by Patna High Court.

The cabinet sanctioned another Rs 544 crore for payment of salaries and other allowances of around 43,000 teaching and non-teaching employees of universities from June to August this year.

Cabinet coordination department principal secretary Brajesh Mehrotra said the home department's proposal for creation of 531 new posts in the special protection group (SPG) - responsible for VIP security - was okayed.

The cabinet also cleared the general administration department's proposal for the promotion of serving sub judges and sub-judges-cum chief judicial magistrates to additional district and sessions judges, and decided to fill up 250 vacant posts of assistant engineers in the rural development department with retired assistant engineers on contract.

Among other decisions, Nawada district welfare officer Dinesh Kumar Pandey - suspended for dereliction of duty - was sacked; 4.833 acres of land was okayed to be transferred free of cost to the National Highways Authority of India for widening the Gaya-Dobhi road; and Rs 132.42 crore was released as the state's share to provide infrastructure to 200 model schools set up in Bihar under the Rashtriya Uchchatar Shiksha Abhiyan.