Geo-fencing-based attendance row: Health staff, including doctors, observe hunger strike

Apprehending the misuse of personal data, scores of health employees of various departments, including doctors on Thursday protested and observed a hunger strike against the geo fencing-based attendance management system at the Civil Surgeon office on Mall Road. Two employees from each association of health officials and employees participated in the protest.

Employees, under the banner of the Swasthya Vibhag Karamchari Talmel Committee Haryana, started a dharna at 9 am, which continued till 5 pm. Health officials and employees associated with the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA), along with associations of dental surgeons, nursing, pharmacy, OT technicians, radiographer, MPHW, GDA, NHM, contractual, HKRNL, handed over a memorandum to Civil Surgeon Dr Poonam Chaudhary, demanding withdrawal of the decision of recording geo-fencing location-based attendance through private resources.

Dr Sanjay Verma said in a letter issued on May 30, the Additional Chief Secretary (ACS), Health Department, Haryana, has directed the doctors and health workers working under all categories in the Health Department have been directed to register their attendance through geo-fencing-based attendance management system and also pay their salary under the system.

“This is impractical and illegal which will not only violate the right of privacy mentioned in the India Constitution, but will also violate the orders of the Supreme Court. The risk of cybercrime will also increase for the officer/ employee and there is a possibility of financial loss as the employee’s mobile SIM is linked to the Aadhaar card and bank account,” said Dr Verma.

Rajesh Singla from the Pharmacists Association, said all officials and employees of the department urge the government not to implement the attendance system. “All officers/ employees working in the Health Department are already registering their attendance based on a biometric attendance system, so there is no justification for registering attendance under geo-fencing-based attendance management system,” he said.

Dr Ashish also expressed surprise and said that the order was being implemented on the officials and employees of the Health Department, who had done a tremendous job and worked as frontline workers during the Covid pandemic when people were afraid to come out of their home, then doctor and health workers were providing health services to the people by risking their lives.

Other protesting employees said some officers were harassing the doctors, nursing staff and health workers by stopping all kinds of facilities, including maternity leave for forcibly marking attendance through personal mobile phones under the geo-fencing-based attendance management system, and at the same time, they were getting the already installed biometric machines removed instead of getting them repaired.