Srinagar, June 11: The biometric smart card-based attendance system introduced in Civil Secretariat here has fallen flat due to lack of proper infrastructure.
In September last year, the government introduced the biometric smart card attendance system to ensure punctuality of officials and to streamline functioning in both wings of the Civil Secretariat in Srinagar and Jammu.
The plan, conceived by the government headed by Ghulam Nabi Azad, was aimed at tightening the noose around latecomers. Initially, implementation of the project got delayed due to bureaucratic red tape.
The system was part of the e-governance project sponsored by the Central government and it was installed with the help of Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Around 5,000 employees working in Civil Secretariat were issued smart cards for biometric attendance.
The system records the actual time when an employee enters or leaves the office.
In Civil Secretariat Srinagar, the system slots have been kept at first entrance of the building and employees record their attendance in the morning. The machine has no connection with other sections in the building and there is no record of employees’ movement after he assumes duty.
Before the installation of biometric attendance system, the employees had to mark their attendance with the respective section officers and incase they left office, it was must for them to inform the officer.
“Since the introduction of biometric system, the employees are not accountable to any officer in his respective section. He leaves the office as per his wish,” says a senior official. “Even some employees return from the gate once they carry out the biometric attendance.”
The senior official said that till the system was not brought at par with the facilities at Corporate Headquarters of J&K Bank here, it was futile.
“The biometric system at JK Bank Corporate Headquarters is linked to all sections. Once an employee leaves his section it gets noticed. Here same needs to be done, otherwise the system is futile,” the official said.
In comparison, the biometric system in Raj Bhavan here is running smoothly with the necessary infrastructure. The office has more than 70 employees and their attendance is marked with biometric system. “Soon after the start of working hours in the morning Governor is apprised about the presence and absence of employees through biometric sheet,” sources said adding that all sections of the office have been connected with the system for monitoring the movement of officials. “Even Srinagar office gets updates about the attendance of employees in Jammu Raj Bhavan daily,” sources added.
Commissioner Secretary, General Administration Department (GAD), Sheikh Mushtaq Ahmad told Greater Kashmir that the system was working in the Secretariat. “After attendance, if any employee leaves office I can’t stop him. You better ask the section officers why don’t they stop them,” he said and admitted that the system remains out of order at times. “For that matter speak to Secretary Information Technology,” he said.
About 4.5 lakh government employees across J&K are pressing for implementation of sixth pay commission and enhancement of retirement age. On the other side there are frequent reports of absence of employees from their offices and recently around a dozen were found absent from duty in Shopian district of south Kashmir.

Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:30:00 Makkah time
Lastupdate on : Mon, 11 Jun 2012 18:30:00 GMT
Lastupdate on : Tue, 12 Jun 2012 00:00:00 IST