Fingerprint to check latecomers

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: This is bound to give MCD officials sleepless nights. From Friday, the officials will have to mark their attendance using the biometric system. Following this, if they arrive 11 minutes later than 9 am, it will be taken as half day. Similarly, they can leave office only by 5 30 pm.
On Thursday, there was a line of curious MCD employees crowding around the machines to see how they worked. Most officials are concerned about the fact that with only five to six machines installed at Town Hall, the queues to mark attendance will be huge considering there are over 15,000 officials working in Town Hall itself.
Said an MCD official: ‘‘I live in Ghaziabad and will have to start from my home much earlier to ensure I mark my attendance on time. There is surely going to be chaos on the first day. When I tried to mark my attendance on the machine, it took me at least 20 minutes before it accepted my finger print.’’ The Class IV employees of MCD, meanwhile, could be seen crowding around the machines to see how to use it and were taking turns doing so before it was locked up ‘‘for safety reasons.’’
Said MCD commissioner K S Mehra: ‘‘We are introducing the biometric system to ensure punctuality and regularity in staff. We want to improve the office culture and ensure better output of work. The system will be started from Town Hall and Ambedkar Stadium office of MCD.’’ The officials and employees will be provided a code number which will also be set in the machine. They will be required to place their index finger in the biometric machine and the machine would recognise their already fed finger print and record their time of arrival and departure. The machines will be linked to computers which will provide a record of attendance of all MCD employees. Based on the computerised attendance record, the salary bills will be prepared each month.
toireporter@timesgroup.com