Shillong: The Meghalaya government has released advance payments of one month’s salary and pensions to more than 80,000 beneficiaries, including around 50,000 employees and over 30,000 pensioners, as part of measures to support the festive season, officials said on Thursday.
The advance disbursement also covers casual and contractual employees working across the state.
According to the Finance Department, Rs. 348.1 crore has been released towards salaries, Rs. 93.4 crore towards pensions, Rs. 9.7 crore for wages and Rs. 4.1 crore for contractual workers.
In addition, the government has released Rs. 255.5 crore during the current financial year to the three autonomous district councils to facilitate payment of current salaries and clear a portion of pending dues.
Funds have also been released for contractors’ bills under major and minor works across all works departments, along with allocations under various other object heads for state departments.
Department-wise releases during December in the 2025–26 financial year amounted to Rs. 664.1 crore, with the largest allocations going to Community and Rural Development, Power, District Council Affairs and Planning.
Significant releases were also made to Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, Health and Family Welfare, Finance (Economic Affairs), Education and Human Resources, Home (Police), Sports and Youth Affairs, and Animal Husbandry and Veterinary departments.
The Finance Department further stated that Rs. 23 crore has been disbursed to 92,051 beneficiaries under the Focus+ scheme through Direct Benefit Transfer.
Overall, total releases from state resources in December stood at Rs. 1,602.9 crore, marking a 30.8 per cent increase compared to Rs. 1,225.2 crore released during the same month last year.
Officials said the enhanced spending is aimed at ensuring smooth implementation of government programmes and boosting economic activity during the Christmas season across the state.
