Pakistan: Sindh CM takes measures to weed out ‘ghost’ employees in Karachi

Karachi: The presence of a large number of ‘ghost’ (absentee) employees in the municipal agencies of Karachi have finally caught the attention of Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, who has ordered corrective measures.

The Sindh government of Pakistan Peoples’ Party has consistently blamed the Opposition Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) for recruiting these nonexistent employees in order to appease its voters’ base.

Shah discussed the issue while chairing a meeting on Tuesday to review the performance of different municipal agencies in Karachi. One of the immediate corrective measures ordered was that the Accountant General (AG) Sindh would be responsible for disbursal of salaries of municipal staff, instead of the finance departments of municipal agencies.

Shah said in the next phase other divisions of the province too would receive their salaries from the Accountant General’s office. He asked the chiefs of different municipal and civic agencies in the city, including Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Karachi Development Authority, Sindh Building Control Authority to physically verify the availability of every employee in their respective institutions before release of salaries to them.

Shah acknowledged that municipal staff who had retired continued to draw salaries owing to the faulty financial system of the civic agencies in the city. He also said he was aware that employees in a lower grade were drawing salaries of those in senior positions. He promised to correct such irregularities.