Mumbai: For the first time, teachers and non-teaching staff of all government-aided schools in the city received their salary on Thursday online through a nationalised bank, an official said.

"The teachers were given special, individual debit cards by the Union Bank of India (UBI) through which they were able to withdraw their salaries," said Kapil Patil, the legislator representing teachers' constituency in the Maharashtra legislative council.

Patil said, "This has brought immense cheer to over 30,000 teachers in Mumbai today. Now, it will be implemented in phases across the state."

He further said that he had been pursuing the matter with the state government since the past few years to give teachers their salaries on time. Until now, the salaries were delayed by several days or weeks.

In July this year, state Primary Education Minister Rajendra Darda agreed to the demand and an agreement was signed with the state-run UBI for disbursing teachers' salaries online.

Besides the salaries, all teachers are entitled to benefits like a free Rs.2, 00,000 insurance cover, loans and other core banking facilities, Patil said. IANS