Nearly 200 contractual employees at the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) have allegedly gone without salaries for the past four months, triggering severe financial hardship and raising concerns over delays in the implementation of key government education initiatives. The employees, who work on flagship programmes such as DIKSHA, PM e-VIDYA, Jaadui Pitara and other projects under Samagra Shiksha, say they are struggling to repay loans, pay rent, meet children's school expenses and manage day-to-day household costs as salary disbursements remain stalled.

The affected staff are engaged under Project Approval Board (PAB)-approved programmes funded by the Union Ministry of Education. Spread across various NCERT departments in New Delhi, they contribute to curriculum development, digital education, teacher training and other school education initiatives that support the implementation of the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.

Employees, speaking on the condition of anonymity, described the prolonged salary delay as financially devastating.

One contractual employee said she is the sole earning member of her family and has been unable to pay her home loan instalments for months. With penalties mounting due to missed EMI payments, she has been forced to borrow money from friends to survive in Delhi while continuing to support her mother financially.

Another employee said the lack of salary had pushed his family into a difficult situation. Living in Delhi with his wife and children in rented accommodation, he said he had taken loans to cover essential expenses, including rent, children's school fees and household necessities, while waiting for pending salary payments.

According to the employees, their contracts expired on March 31 but were subsequently extended first until June and later until September. Despite the extensions, salaries for April, May, June and July have not been released. They claim that repeated inquiries with project coordinators and departmental heads yielded the same response—that funds from the Ministry of Education have not yet been released and certain administrative approvals remain pending.

"The administration keeps informing us that the ministry has not released the required funds and they are unable to indicate when salaries will be credited," one employee said.

Responding to media queries, NCERT Director Dinesh Saklani acknowledged the issue and said he had instructed the concerned departments to examine the matter immediately. However, he did not elaborate on the reasons behind the payment delay or provide a timeline for clearing the pending salaries.

The Union Ministry of Education has not yet issued an official response regarding the delay or clarified when the contractual employees will receive their dues.

The salary crisis comes despite an increase in NCERT's overall allocation in the Union Budget 2026-27, which rose by nearly 15%, from ₹593.71 crore in 2025-26 to ₹681.79 crore in the current financial year. However, the Project Approval Board (PAB) allocation for NCERT's Annual Work Plan, which supports Samagra Shiksha and other centrally funded school education programmes, declined by nearly 22%, falling from ₹677.13 crore to ₹529.71 crore.

Employees believe the delayed approval of the Annual Work Plan and Budget (AWP&B) significantly contributed to the funding bottleneck. The PAB meeting for the 2026-27 financial year was held on June 12, nearly two months later than the previous year's meeting, which took place in April. According to staff members, the delayed approval slowed the release of project funds and disrupted salary payments.

They also pointed to recent ministry directives aimed at rationalising expenditure and optimising human resources. The official PAB meeting minutes recommend engaging external personnel only when necessary and reducing costs across several programmes. Although these recommendations do not directly attribute the salary delays to cost-cutting measures, employees believe they have contributed to the prolonged uncertainty.

The ongoing payment crisis has raised concerns about employee morale and the smooth execution of several nationally important education initiatives. With many contractual professionals continuing to work despite months without pay, stakeholders are urging the Ministry of Education and NCERT to expedite pending approvals and release salaries to prevent further disruption to India's school education programmes.