Biometric attendance for BMC staff back from Nov 1
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is set to bring back its biometric attendance system for its employees after a gap of five months. Come November 1, biometric attendance for civic employees will be mandatory, it was decided at the monthly review conducted by body chief Ajoy Mehta.
The biometric attendance system was stopped after employees complained of technical glitches due to which the salaries, including those of doctors’ in King Edward Memorial (KEM) Hospital,
In March this year, salaries of 4,500 medical staff of KEM Hospital were deducted by half because of glitches in the system. Following this, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital went on a strike, crippling medical services. They demanded the discontinuance of the biometric system of attendance.
were not being credited.
In March 2018, salaries of 4,500 medical staff of KEM Hospital were cut by half because of glitches in the system. Following this, nurses and paramedical staff of the hospital went on a strike, crippling medical services. They demanded the discontinuance of the system.
However, civic officials have maintained the biometric attendance is here to stay and will be linked with their salaries. Earlier, there were complaints of the machine freezing mid-operation after a steady stream of employees used it to mark attendance.
To avoid such a situation, the BMC will now provide one machine for every 20 staffers and have a spare machine for emergencies.
Also, from now on, the head of the department must ensure that the employees’ work hours are correctly computed, failing which s/he will be held responsible.
In 2017, BMC had introduced biometric attendance, which was opposed by employee unions. However, the civic administration went ahead with its decision. However, many employees faced pay cuts despite having put in the required work hours as they could not mark attendance on time for unavailability of the device, or as the system hung or their fingerprint was not recognised.