Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system for Health Department staff

Work on installing equipment has begun; system likely to be in place from Nov. 1

Government doctors running private practice during working hours is a common complaint the Health and Family Welfare Department has been receiving regularly. While several members of staff report late to work, some do not turn up and get their attendance marked by others. During inspections of hospitals by higher officials and Ministers, the common complaint is unauthorised absenteeism and late reporting.

Although the department has put in place a biometric attendance system, it is not very efficient as there is room for its misuse. To put an end to this, the department is now set to introduce an Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS). Work on installing AEBAS equipment has begun in all hospitals and the system is likely to be in place from November 1. Health Director T.S. Prabhakar told The Hindu that the new foolproof system would be linked to a central monitoring cell at the district and taluk levels. “We will also have random monitoring cells in the State health directorate so that we can monitor attendance locally as well as centrally,” he said.

“We regularly receive complaints from people that doctors are not available in hospitals during working hours. The existing biometrics attendance system that we have is not foolproof and there are instances of misuse being reported. We have asked all the hospital heads to procure the AEBAS machines using Arogya Raksha Samiti funds,” he said.

Pointing out that AEBAS for the Health Department will be managed by the National Informatics Centre, the director said fingerprints or iris recognition of employees done while obtaining Aadhaar cards would be used under the system.

Over 70,000 employees working in the department, including those in 2,359 primary health centres, 206 community health centres, 146 taluk hospitals, 15 district hospitals, and 11 general hospitals, will be covered under AEBAS. These include doctors, paramedical staff, lab technicians, pharmacists and staff on contract.

Another senior official said that if any employee reports late to work, a message would be sent to his or her mobile phone mentioning the late reporting time. “An immediate report will be sent to their section heads and within minutes, the dereliction of duty can be reported,” he said.

Under AEBAS, attendance will be registered by entering the biometric information, which will be authenticated by matching it with the data stored in the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) database.

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