Biometric attendance in GHs: contempt plea filed

MADURAI

A contempt petition was filed before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday for non-implementation of an order issued in 2012 by the Health and Family Welfare department. The department, by the order, had introduced biometric attendance for staff of all government hospitals with a view to regulating attendance.

A division bench of Justices C.T. Selvam and A.M. Basheer Ahamed directed notice to Health and Family Welfare department, returnable by a week and adjourned the case for further hearing.

The petitioner, C. Anand Raj of Madurai, said the department had failed to comply with the earlier direction of the court for implementation of biometric attendance in all hospitals as per the government order. He said he had filed the original writ petition after taking cognisance of a news report published in a Tamil daily, which claimed that 25% of the 800-odd staff employed in Madurai Government Rajaji Hospital came late for duty.

He added that 25% of the doctors working in government medical college and hospitals, district and taluk hospitals, primary health centres and health sub-centres across the State were not regular and were concentrating more on private practice. Tough the G.O. came into effect from October 2012, it was not strictly implemented, he said.

He claimed that the poor and economically weaker sections of people felt the impact, as a result. He also sought initiation of contempt proceedings for disobedience of the court’s earlier order.