The education department has planned to open the accounts of contract teachers as well as appointment authorities in the same nationalised bank in the district to transfer salaries on time.

Earlier, different teachers had accounts in different banks and usually salaries were credited after one or two months.

Department sources said under the new system, the appointment authorities of contract teachers in a district would have accounts in a nationalised bank.

The teachers in the district will have an account in the same bank. The state government would open the bank accounts.

The principal secretary, education, Amarjeet Sinha, said: “The government is serious about the problems of contract teachers and the step taken by the department is an attempt to streamline the salary process.”

The education department deputy director, R.S. Singh, said: “All the district education officers have been directed to complete the process of opening accounts of appointment authorities and the contract teachers by May 15.”

With the accounts of all teachers in a single bank, the salary transfer process will be much easier.

Shabnam, a contract teacher at a middle school in Vaishali, said: “The new scheme is a good step, as our salaries usually delayed by two to three months.”

Under the present system, different appointment authorities functioning in a district had accounts in different nationalised banks.

It was the same in case of teachers and it took time to transfer money.

Sources said the new initiative of the state government would provide better and quick facilities to teachers.

In August last year, the state government launched a pension scheme for contract teachers, which was comparable to other government employees.

Under the scheme, Rs 200 would be detected from salaries of teachers, while the state government will pay Rs 200, which would be deposited in the pension account of the teachers.

According to sources, the file pertaining to hike in salaries of contract teachers is pending with the finance department. Sources added that the file is stuck owing to alleged protests by contractual teachers against the state government.

In Bihar, there are around 2.5 lakh contract teachers appointed over different periods of time.

In March, the contract teachers’ union staged a massive demonstration in Patna against the state government demanding salaries at a par with government teachers.

The contract schoolteachers, who are paid Rs 6,000 to Rs 9,000 a month, have been demanding parity with their regular counterparts drawing a monthly salary of Rs 27,000.