For some years now, Delhi’s municipal corporation was paying 50,000 salaries to sweepers and gardeners who existed only in paper.
For some years now, Delhi’s municipal corporation was paying 50,000 salaries to sweepers and gardeners who existed only in paper. The massive fraud is emerging as the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi) tries to put in place a biometric system of attendance for its employees.
With 15 days left for every employee to register, it looks like MCD has more than 45,000 ‘ghost’ employees earning crores per year. Several politicians who were corporation members admit they were aware of the scam — that most MCD employees existed only on paper.
“I agree that such ghost employees exist and get monthly salaries,” said Vijender Gupta, former MCD standing committee chairman who recently lost the Lok Sabha election to Kapil Sibal.
“We have known for years about this scam and finally the biometric system has uncovered it,” Gupta told DNA. “Almost 50,000 ghost employees were getting paid every month,” he said. MCD officers admit the number of ghost employees could be more than the estimated 45,000. The annual size of the scam, according to some sources, runs into almost a thousand crore, at a monthly rate of over Rs90 crore. “The biometric process is still going on. The process will take more time, and could unearth more ghosts,” Gupta said.
A CBI inquiry can be ordered, but it will have to wait till July 15, the deadline for all employees to register themselves for this biometric way of attendance.
“We knew for years that MCD employees don’t work. We knew that these ghost employees were the main reason that people complained (of shoddy MCD work),” former mayor Arti Mehra told DNA.
According to her, “We started this biometric system of attendance six months ago, because we were aware of such misgiving at the MCD.”
The question arises that if so many officials knew about the scam, them why was action not taken much earlier?
“We wanted to launch this biometric system much earlier, but there was much hue and cry against it,” Mehra said. “It was only after the MCD commissioner cooperated with us that we are seeing these results. Almost Rs500 crore will be saved through this process,” she said.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}