India, Sept. 12 -- LUCKNOW Mayor Sushma Kharkwal paid a surprise visit to the Lucknow Municipal Corporation (LMC) headquarters on Thursday morning and found widespread absenteeism of officials, with citizens waiting outside locked offices and their grievances unheard.

She asked the absentees to provide proof of their whereabouts within two days. "If they fail to provide a satisfactory reply, I will recommend strict action to the state government and even submit a report to chief minister Yogi Adityanath," she warned.

The mayor arrived at the Lalbagh-based HQ around 10:45am, just 45 minutes after senior officials were supposed to be on their seats. Before starting her inspection, the mayor asked staff to keep both the main gates of the b...