Indian capital Delhi pays 20,000 'ghost workers'

[Sachinism]

The mayor of the Indian capital, Delhi, has admitted that the city's government has been paying salaries to 22,853 civic employees who do not exist. In a statement, Dr Kanwar Sain said the salaries for the missing Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) workers added up to nearly $43m a year. The "gap" was discovered after the authorities introduced a biometric system of recording attendance. The city employs more than 100,000 cleaners, gardeners and other workers. City officials became aware there were thousands of "ghost workers" after introducing the biometric system of recording attendance in August last year. Mr Sain said the civic agency has 104,241 "genuine" employees - while the records show the numbers at 127,094. A press release issued by Mayor Sain's office said: "There is a gap of 22,853 employees in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi between the data given by drawing and disbursing officers, the head of the department and the number of employees enrolled for biometric attendance." An "in-depth vigilance inquiry will be conducted into the matter to ascertain the facts", he said. "Strict disciplinary action will be taken against officials who cooked the books," he said. It was long suspected that MCD had a number of ghost workers, but the authorities had always denied the charge. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/8380010.stm