Hyderabad: A payroll clean-up has exposed alarming gaps in oversight across govt departments, with officials flagging nearly 7,000 outsourcing, part-time and contract workers for removal amid suspicions of large-scale salary fraud.The move follows a finance department drive to digitally collect Aadhaar details of all such employees, triggering scrutiny that has uncovered signs of collusion, fake identities and questionable wage payments.
Sources said patterns emerged suggesting that certain employees and agencies had allegedly worked in tandem to create bogus employee records and bank accounts, siphoning off salaries from multiple departments and sharing the proceeds among themselves.As per data with the finance department, around 3.75 lakh outsourced and contract employees have registered their details on the online platform.Last month, the govt ordered the suspension of salaries for those who failed to submit their information.“How much funds were misused in this pattern? There is no exact estimate, but it will run into thousands of crores if more details become available,” a source said.The govt has warned of strict action if wages are paid without Aadhaar linkage. It also emerged that in some departments officials attempted to route salary payments through the head of account, prompting a firm warning from the govt.The verification exercise began in July with the formation of a committee headed by former chief secretary A Santhi Kumari to ascertain the actual number of outsourced employees. Over the past four months, Aadhaar-linked data was collected online from departments and corporations. The process revealed that payments had been made to several individuals who were not working at all, sources said.A forensic audit is expected to uncover further instances of fraudulent claims, while vigilance officials have already been deployed to departments to gather additional details.Meanwhile, with the sarpanch elections concluded, the govt is preparing to release dearness allowance to employees next month.
