Biometric attendance for health employees soon

Manmeet Singh Gill

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, December 17

The Health Department is all set to install biometric attendance machines at the Jallianwala Bagh Martyrs Memorial Civil Hospital and the Civil Surgeon office to ensure that the employees remain in their workplaces during duty hours.

Officials said the installation and operationalisation of the machines would be ensured this week. People have often complained about unavailability of health staff during duty hours.

“Even if an employee leaves his or her seat for a few minutes, people think that either the said employee hasn’t arrived or has left the place. A few people might be indulging in such acts, but most of the staff members arrive and leave on time. These machines will keep a check on those who don’t follow the norms,” said an official, adding that the attendance data would be directly registered in the head office and it could not be manipulated at the district level.

The machines will ensure that higher-ups in Chandigarh get to know about the attendance status of the employees at the local level.

The late-coming and early-leaving practice is a problem common to all government departments. Earlier too, surprise inspections have been conducted on various occasions to curb the tendency.

The department had around 10 years ago installed biometric machines at many health institutions, especially in rural areas, to ensure presence of medical staff. Insiders say that within a short span after installation, the machines either developed snags or were reportedly stolen.

Civil Surgeon Dr Hardeep Singh Ghai said the machines would become operational as soon as the employees’ fingerprint details are registered after installation.