The department conducted an inspection after several district offices and institutions repeatedly complained that the devices installed on their premises were not working properly.
Delhi government’s biometric attendance drive hits an unexpected snag. It’s not a technology objection, a bad network, or even a fingerprint that’s missing. It is water in some offices.
The Social Welfare department has decided to put the biometric attendance devices installed across its offices under CCTV surveillance following repeated complaints of malfunctioning. An inspection has found water inside several biometric attendance devices despite there being no water source nearby or plumbing.
The biometric attendance drive was initiated after Chief Minister Rekha Gupta visited. The State GST office in a surprise visit in April and found several senior staff including senior bureaucrats absent from duty.
The government later made biometric attendance mandatory for all employees deployed across its departments, including additional chief secretaries, principal secretaries, secretaries and heads of departments. All officers and staff, including top bureaucrats, were asked to punch in at 9.30 am and punch out at 6 pm.Officials have been cautioned that strict action would be taken against employees who report late, fail to register their attendance or leave work early.
Sources said the government’s stringent enforcement of biometric attendance has faced resistance from some officials and staff. In a few departments, there are allegations that attempts were made to damage the attendance machines by spilling or pouring water on them.The issue was discussed at a recent meeting of departmental officers.The department conducted inspections after receiving repeated complaints from district offices and institutions about biometric attendance machines not functioning properly.
According to the minutes of the meeting, in-charges of several district offices, homes and institutions complained that the biometric devices were frequently developing faults. The Superintendent, care-taking Branch (CTB), also informed the meeting that complaints about malfunctioning machines were being received repeatedly from different offices.
However, inspections by the service engineer reportedly found water inside several biometric devices, even though there were no water sources or plumbing facilities near the machines.The findings led officials to suspect that some of the devices could have been intentionally damaged.
Several district offices, homes and institutions had also failed to submit attendance reports regularly. Officials said that whenever explanations were sought, malfunctioning biometric machines were cited as the reason. We don’t know who tried to damage the devices, but it is clear that it is deliberate because it is not one machine. It has been found in several offices, an official said.Attendance records are also sent to the office of the concerned minister and the General Administration Department (GAD), officials said.
The controversy has also highlighted the practical difficulties involved in enforcing biometric attendance across departments where employees are frequently required to work outside their offices.Officials said personnel from the Social Welfare, labor and WCD departments are regularly engaged in field activities as part of the implementation and monitoring of government welfare schemes.
Because of this, while some are not able to mark their attendance on the biometric system… some try to take benefit of it… The department has decided to explore the feasibility of implementing a mobile-based Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system integrated with the Face RD Application and real-time geolocation, particularly for officials performing field duties, a senior official said.
In-charges of several district offices, homes and institutions have also pointed out the difficulties of preparing attendance records solely on the basis of biometric data. These difficulties include the field-based nature of the work undertaken by some officials as well as frequent technical problems with the machines installed at certain locations.
The IT Branch has been asked to examine whether a mobile-based system can be technically implemented and submit its recommendations to the Social Welfare department, the official said.
Officials said all departments are required to submit daily attendance details of their employees to their respective heads. The CM had also sought a monthly report showing the average time at which each official arrives at work. The GAD was directed to compile attendance information on a daily basis and submit the report to the chief secretary by 12 pm. The chief secretary had, a few months earlier, issued a strict warning to officials to comply with the biometric attendance system and ensure that their attendance was recorded properly. Officials failing to follow the instructions were warned of disciplinary action. Show-cause notices have subsequently been issued to some officers and staff working in various departments for failing to comply with the attendance guidelines.
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