‘Ghost’ employees: MC incurs loss of Rs 8 crore

Two days after the municipal corporation of Chandigarh detected 256 ‘ghost’ employees on its rolls, HT on Wednesday found that the racket has caused a loss of nearly Rs 8 crore to the public exchequer.

Two days after the municipal corporation of Chandigarh detected 256 ‘ghost’ employees on its rolls, HT on Wednesday found that the racket has caused a loss of nearly Rs 8 crore to the public exchequer.

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The 256 daily wagers (list in possession of HT) were enrolled with the UT administration since 1985 and since then, offices concerned have withdrawn payment on manufactured muster rolls, causing a loss of nearly `8 crore to the public exchequer. The officers were withdrawing an average of `1,500 per month per employee.

A retired senior officer of the UT administration, on the condition of anonymity, said most of the daily wagers enrolled were shown working with roads and maintenance wing of the UT administration. “If investigation is done properly, the number of ‘ghost’ employees can even go up to 500, as several names were deleted at the time of transferring employees from UT to MC in 1996,” the official added.

Deputy mayor Davesh Moudgil said, “We are shocked to learn how officers of both MC and UT administration were withdrawing money against the fictitious muster rolls. We will raise this issue in the House meeting and demand a CBI inquiry.”

However, when contacted, UT adviser KK Sharma, “I was not in town, but have read the reports in media and will enquire into the matter on Thursday.”