In a festive gesture, the Meghalaya government has released advance payments to around 80,000 employees and pensioners, along with significant departmental funds, ahead of Christmas celebrations, an official announced on Saturday.

The advances cover approximately 50,000 employees and over 30,000 pensioners, including casual and contractual workers. Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma, who also holds the Finance portfolio, extended Christmas and New Year greetings to the state’s predominantly Christian population.

Key disbursements include Rs 348.1 crore for salaries, Rs 93.4 crore for pensions, Rs 9.7 crore for wages, and Rs 4.1 crore for contractual workers. Additionally, the government allocated Rs 255.5 crore this financial year to the three autonomous district councils for clearing current and pending salaries.

Contractor payments accounted for a major portion, with Rs 416.1 crore under Major Works (Head 53) and Rs 154.7 crore under Minor Works (Head 27). The Public Works Department received the highest allocation at Rs 256.4 crore, followed by Urban Affairs (Rs 102.5 crore), Public Health Engineering (Rs 68.6 crore), Sports and Youth Affairs and Power (Rs 60 crore each), and Health and Family Welfare (Rs 14 crore).

Overall department-wise allocations for December reached Rs 664.1 crore, led by Community and Rural Development (Rs 102.9 crore), Power (Rs 101.2 crore), District Council Affairs (Rs 101 crore), Planning (Rs 80.9 crore), and Agriculture and Farmers Welfare (Rs 69.5 crore).

Separately, Rs 23 crore was transferred via Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) to 92,051 beneficiaries under the Focus+ scheme.