Biometric attendance units in SMC offices

The Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has installed a biometrics computerised time and attendance system to monitor its 15,500-strong workforce that includes officers, engineers and other employees.

The authorities said the aim was to monitor the attendance of its employees and provide a transparent and citizen-friendly civic administration.

Though the Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi formally inaugurated the system during his visit to Surat on February 2, the system will be implemented in a phased manner.

So far, four of the 150 planned fingerprint recognition-based 'Time n Track' reader units have been installed at the Mughal Sarai headquarters of the civic body and three zonal offices.

The system will be installed at almost all other offices of the civic body including ward offices, urban health centres, maternity homes, fire stations, water supply and drainage pumping stations and octroi posts in the coming months.

The corporation is also planning to introduce a visitor management system for tracking visitors and taking care of their needs. The corporation commissioner Gangaram Aloria said the biometrics attendance system has a heavy-duty integrated camera and audio-visual facilities.

Aloria said this move is a major step towards implementing e-governance.

"The system will bring in professionalism and transparency and will help us identify erring employees. This is our maiden step towards inculcating accountability in the system. We are looking forward to providing a responsible and citizen-friendly service," Aloria said.

"With the installation of the biometrics attendance system, there will be no supervisors, duty in-charge and muster rolls," deputy commissioner (general) K C Mehta said.

This will help eliminate corruption in offices.

The hi-tech system will also ensure accountability at all levels and will also go a long way in reducing the financial burden on the corporation.

Following the installation of the biometrics system, smart cards will be issued to all the officers and employees. The authentication tools of the system include a combination of fingerprints as well as smart cards.

The system recognises a person based on personal data, including physical measures.

The corporation's personnel officer Renuka Patel said the authentication system with real-time audit for users will help the authorities access the centralised control system and gather data about employees.

The system will have an in-built procedure to realign payrolls and leave-related information. It will also be used for distributing and retrieving books and records from the library.

Any of the 15,500 staff members of the corporation can be tracked from the central control room of the civic body by following the users' movements with the help of the stored data base. For effective use of the system, employees at all levels have been given basic training in the use of the new technology.

A corporation official said the registered user of the system has to display his card or show his ID and then place his finger on the reader.

Based on the finger print, the machine verifies the identity of the person comparing it with the data stored in a connected computer.

The smart cards distributed to the employees will also carry the personal information of the employees and they can be used as health cards in the corporation-run hospitals and health clubs.