Removing ghost employees

MORE THAN 100,000 PHANTOM EMPLOYEES on government payrolls have materialized in Hebei, Sichuan, Henan and Jilin provinces. In Hebei alone, more than 100 million yuan ($16 million) has been recovered.

It is almost unbelievable that so many have been living on taxpayers' money with just their names listed on government payrolls. It is even more unbelievable that the payrolls of local governments at various levels could be managed in such a manner for so long.

In the cases uncovered, it has not been unusual for some local leaders' sons or daughters to be placed on local government payrolls and receive salaries while they are still in university or even in high school. And, in at least one instance, an official who had been convicted for corruption and was no longer a government employee has been paid a regular salary over the past seven years.