Noida Authority to implement hand-held biometric machines

NOIDA: Noida Authority on Wednesday said that it will soon start using hand held biometric machines to record attendance of employees who work in the field, especially the sanitation staff. The Authority plans to get about 20 machines or as required, within a week for the purpose. The "Touch-n-Go" biometric finger print technology will be fully in place by the New Year, said Noida Authority officials.

The move follows demand of nearly 1600 contractual staff working in the sanitation and health department earlier this year. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had also directed that all government officials have to be punctual to office after taking his oath as CM earlier this year.

According to officials, a biometric attendance system is already recording attendance for other employees of the Authority. This system was installed in April this year. "However, there was no control over the sanitation staff who remain in the field to clean the city," said Rajesh Kumar Singh, Officer on Special Duty (OSD), Noida Authority. "Now we will use these portable biometric machines, which will be GPS enabled so that not only the presence but also the location of the sanitation staff will be recorded on the machine," he explained. "This will help us in monitoring and keeping a tab on the sanitation employees.

The contractor will be responsible for ensuring the sanitation staff record their attendance," he said. "An important feature of the system is that it will not allow buddy/proxy punching. While tracking time and attendance accurately, it will help increase efficiency in managing a mobile workforce on remote sites," he added.