'Ghosts' leave Ludhiana's streets dirty

Ludhiana: A Congress councillor, Bhupinder Kaur, once again raised the matter of the ghost employees scam while pointing towards her previous complaints, on which MC authorities did not act. She submitted a complaint to the MC commissioner, mayor, and local bodies department officials. She claimed that it was an urgent matter of administrative corruption, financial embezzlement, and a blatant violation of the Punjab Municipal Corporation (PMC) Act, 1976.Kaur claimed that despite her repeated formal requests and an RTI application on February 17, 2025, the concerned officials wilfully suppressed the safai karamchari/Sweepers duty rolls/roster. She alleged that it was not merely an administrative delay; it was a calculated cover-up of a "ghost employee" scam that was bleeding the MC exchequer while putting the public health of residents at severe risk. While describing the issue, she said there were credible reports of "ghost employees" in the MC health branch who drew full salaries from the public exchequer but remained absent from duty to pursue private businesses. She said that, as an elected house member, she formally requested duty rosters to verify field attendance, but these requests fell on deaf ears.She suspected that certain officials were "hand in glove" with these ghost employees to fill private coffers at the expense of public sanitation. She claimed that she had the right to seek information from the commissioner regarding administration. She claimed that the lack of actual manpower on the ground left the cleaning and sanitation work at stake. The accumulation of waste and lack of sweeping created unhygienic conditions, posing a serious health risk to children, elderly residents, and patients. This dereliction of duty was an organised financial crime against the taxpayers of Ludhiana, she said.The councillor demanded immediate production of the complete safai karamchari duty rolls/roster, as asked, within 24 hours; a high-level enquiry into the "ghost employee" allegations; and a physical verification (biometric/spot check) of all health branch staff. She also demanded strict disciplinary action under the Punjab Civil Services (Punishment and Appeal) Rules against the officials responsible for suppressing information and facilitating ghost payrolls. If the enquiry confirmed the presence of ghost employees, the salary drawn illegally must be recovered from the concerned officials/employees. She also sought a written action taken report (ATR) and the diary/dispatch number of this complaint within 3 working days. She claimed that she would take this matter to the state vigilance bureau and Lokpal Punjab for the registration of a formal corruption case if officials did not act. Meanwhile, the MC commissioner, Neeru Katyal Gupta, said she would go through the complaint and then comment.