*Mr X bunked the office,stayed out watching TV in his home.Next day when he turned up at his office,he signed the register showing he had attended duty on both these days.
*MR Y came to office at 12 noon and returned home at 3 pm after having disposing off a few files and having lunch in between.
*Mr Z remained engaged in his private affairs elsewhere and turned up at his office two days later.His colleague signed the register on his behalf proving Mr Z had regularly attended the office.
Mr X,Y and Z are no strange cases in Jharkhand.They were among hundreds of the state government personnel who were posted at the Jharkhand State Secretariat-Project Bhawan-in Ranchi.All of them were paid for attending the office between 10 am to 5 pm on every working day.
But due solely to their corrupt habit of turning up at office late,returning home from office early and getting official attendance recorded fraudulently,a dictum had over the years gained ground derogatively describing their official schedule as : “11 Baaje Late Nahin,3 Ke Baad Bhet Nahin.”
Now,all these may become history if the Biometric Attendance System installed at the Project Bhawan gets institutionalized.The system was inaugurated by Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed this morning .
“To ensure punctuality among officers and employees, the newly installed biometric system is in place.It will help improve the work culture at the state secretariat”,said chief secretary RS Sharma,brain behind the initiative.
This initiative is undertaken to capture In-Time, Out-Time, Leaves and Concessions provided to the employee and generation of analytical reports.As per official records,Biometric Attendance System is linked with Unique Identification Number to help the system remove any duplicate entry .
As it is,the finger impression is needed to record the attendance in the biometric system which was linked with the Unique Identification Authority of India’s Aadhaar data base in Bangalore and NOIDA.As a result,when the user’s finger impression was captured by the biometric attendance system,it authenticates its genuineness from Aadhaar data base within seconds.
The process is designed to monitor absentees, and keep a tab on the staff’s attendance viz a viz his status of leave and salary amounts.It is meant to keep track of irregular staff and monitor his bosses regularity in so far as attendance and payment of his/her monthly salary is concerned.
The inauguration of the system was widely hailed by the staff and the officials.”This is what can prove to be game changer. It is bound to bring about efficiency and discipline among the staff and officials whose output will increase and thereby pave the way for change in the work culture”,said Ram Nagina Singh,a clerk.
Ashok Kumar said, “Always we have been working hard.But due to some corrupt and lethargic rogues, our names were spoilt.This biometric attendance system provides an opportunity to prove to the world that we are performers.”
There were red faces too. “Ye Attendance system Se Kuch Nahin Hoga”,he said.”Jab Tak Bade sahib Log Iska use Nahin Karenge,Tab Tak ye sab Se Kuch Sudhar nahin Hone wala.”
After Jharkhand was created in 2000,electronic attendance system was installed to ensure the staff and officials attended office in time and left in time.Sadly,today there was no trace of any one these electronic devise. In effect, attendance records in the state secretariat were maintained manually.
Now,Chief Secretary RS Sharma who was trying to oil the bureaucratic machine by using Information and Communication Technology,is keen to get the biometric attendance system installed in all government offices at the district and block levels.
Pic:Jharkhand Governor Syed Ahmed who inaugurated the Biometric Attendance System at the Project Bhawan today,was accompanied by his Advisor Madhukar Gupta and Chief Secretary R.S.Sharma
