Probe reveals possibility of over 300 ghost employees in Gurugram civic body

The 126-page-long investigation report states that only around 1,600 workers could be accounted for, even though the MCG has been paying monthly salaries to around 1,950 outsourced workers.

At least 300 outsourced workers of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) are suspected to be ghost employees, a 20-month-long investigation by a committee formed by the civic body has found.

At least 300 outsourced workers of the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) are suspected to be ghost employees, a 20-month-long investigation by a committee formed by the civic body has found.(Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

The 126-page-long investigation report states that only around 1,600 workers could be accounted for, even though the MCG has been paying monthly salaries to around 1,950 outsourced workers.

The report will be submitted to officials and councillors at the upcoming MCG House meeting on September 6.

“It took seven reminders and 20 months to complete an investigation that should have ideally taken only two months. As many as 300-400 workers could not be accounted for, highly increasing the possibility of ghost posts in the MCG. The report will be submitted in the upcoming House meeting, following which officials will initiate their investigation into our discoveries,” said RS Rathee, councillor of Ward 34, who heads the MCG committee.

A person who draws a salary from an organisation without actually working for them is termed as a ghost employee.

The MCG pays around Rs 4 crore in monthly salaries to the 1,950 outsourced workers.

It was during a House meeting last January when Rathee raised the possibility of ghost employees being present in the MCG, referencing a similar discovery in the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD). He was also critical of the civic body, stating that the MCG did not require the services of 2,000 employees.

Subsequently, the MCG formed a five-member committee comprising MCG councillors RS Rathee, Ravinder Yadav, Braham Prakash, Sanjay Pradhan and Subhash Singla, to investigate the issue.

Questionnaires were then distributed among various MCG departments for outsourced workers to list their basic details, educational qualifications, references for the job, job profile and work experience. The interview process commenced last November.

“We will look into all the improprieties raised by the committee members in the report and initiate our own investigation as well. Ghost employees are a serious issue. Once ascertained, we will take initiate necessary legal proceedings against the violators concerned. The larger objective is to ensure that the MCG works in a transparent manner, free of any wrongdoing,” said Amit Khatri, commissioner, MCG.

The committee members said that as the probe took 20 months, even those who were interviewed could have been transferred to another post or may no longer necessarily be employed with the MCG, and could have been replaced by another person or their post filled without a person actually being physically present.

They further said that nearly 1,200 of the 1,600 workers, who could be accounted for, were employed based on the recommendations of local politicians, state politicians, Haryana bureaucrats and MCG staff members.

“Nearly 75% of the workers we interviewed had been appointed based on the recommendation of local politicians, state politicians and senior bureaucrats who work not just only with the MCG but departments such as the Urban Local Bodies (ULB), district administration and Haryana government. During the interview process, many workers with more than four to five years of experience were unable to explain the role of their jobs, the wards they were allocated to cover or list their educational qualifications. Besides hiring unskilled workers, the MCG has also made multiple appointments against one vacant post, created needless posts and distributed workers unevenly,” said Rathee.

Rathee said that many posts were filled by workers who had just turned 18, and did not have the necessary educational qualifications or job skills.

The committee members gave the example of how MCG had hired two computer clerks against a single vacancy, allocated only 15 workers to the horticulture wing of MCG’s zones 1 and 2, while 85 were hired for zones 3 and 4. They also said that at least 400 outsourced workers were resent for the interview to “make up” the numbers.

“During the investigation tenure, on various occasions, the same worker was sent twice for the interview process, soon after we had sent reminders that 30-40 workers from a department had still not come forward. Fortunately, we had a catalogue to corroborate the same. Overall, there were more than 400 such instances,” said Subhash Singla, councillor of Ward 18.

The committee’s investigation excludes the 2,000 outsourced sanitation workers, who have been hired directly from five firms.