Department of School Education has issued show cause notices to 68 school heads—including principals, headmasters and headmistresses—for failing to submit the monthly salary bills of teaching and non-teaching staff in a timely manner.The official directive warns of strict disciplinary action against the defaulting drawing and disbursing officers (DDOs) across various districts of the state.The directive names 68 educational administrators across several districts, including Amritsar, Barnala, Bathinda, Jalandhar, Patiala, Sangrur, Gurdaspur, Fazilka, Moga, Rupnagar, Tarn Taran, Pathankot, Kapurthala, Hoshiarpur and LudhianaAccording to the chargesheet, issued by the Under Secretary of School Education, the designated DDOs failed to submit the salary bills of their respective school staff for the month of March 2026 (paid in April 2026) to the treasury office within the mandated timeframe.As a result of this administrative delay, teaching and non-teaching staff experienced a setback in receiving their monthly salaries. The state government has viewed this delay with extreme gravity, reads the show cause notice.”The delay in the distribution of salaries has been taken very seriously by the government, and this negligence is unacceptable without any valid justification,” it reads.The department further noted that by delaying these crucial financial submissions, the officials demonstrated irresponsible behavior and a careless attitude toward their official duties.School Education Department Secretary Sonali Giri has initiated proceedings under Rule 10 of the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules, 1970. Under these rules, the state proposes to take formal disciplinary action and penalize the officials.The accused principals and headmasters have been given seven days from the receipt of the notice to submit a written explanation to the department.If the officials require access to government records to draft their defense, they may schedule an appointment to inspect the files on any working day at either the Department of School Education, the office of the Director of School Education (Secondary), or their respective District Education Officer (Secondary) offices, reads the letter.The department has conveyed that failing to view the records or claiming records were unavailable will not be accepted as a valid excuse for delaying or failing to submit an explanation. If no written response is received within the stipulated seven-day period, the department will assume the official has no defense to offer, and unilateral disciplinary action will proceed without further warning.