New Delhi authorities have been paying salaries to 23,000 non-existent employees at a cost of more than 40 million dollars annually, a statement from the mayor's office said Thursday. The discrepancy was discovered after Kanwar Sain, mayor of the Indian capital, introduced a biometric system of recording attendance in August.
It revealed 104,241 genuine employees on a payroll of 127,094 people, the statement said. "The Municipal Corporation of Delhi will go into the full depth of the matter to ascertain the facts," Sain said in the statement. "Strict disciplinary action will be taken." The MCD employs people ranging from teachers to cleaners and gardeners in the city of 14 million people.