Govt to keep check on location of college biometric machines

Nagpur: With the state government deciding to inspect the proper installation of biometric attendance machines in all junior colleges that offer science stream within the city limits, the education department is contemplating ways to keep a check on manipulation of the machines by both colleges and coaching classes. The inspection teams will start moving to all such colleges either from Monday or Tuesday.
There are reports of some coaching classes installing machines on their premises itself so that students don’t need to visit college for that. This would mean that the machine installed at the college will be a dummy and the education department so far has neither the mandate nor the technical capability to verify the same. With no mention of GPS tracking in the government’s order, there is no compulsion on colleges to prove whether or not their biometric machine is a dummy.

“We have been discussing the issue with our seniors and the issue is being looked into even at the mantralaya level. There is acceptance by all of the fact that biometric machines can be manipulated,” Satish Mendhe, who’s holding additional charge as the deputy director of education (Nagpur division), said.

TOI was the first to report about how a simple loophole in the guidelines issued by state government, makes it possible to manipulate the machine’s outcome. Since there is no GPS tracking available on these machines by default, there is no way to know if the machine was installed in a coaching class or the college premises itself. Mendhe said, “Work has started already in that direction and we are working on ways to keep track on actual location of the biometric machine. A new GR is likely to be issued in this regard soon.”

The state government’s decision to make biometric attendance mandatory is the result of students bunking regular lectures at junior colleges en masse and attending coaching classes instead. Government-aided colleges were loosing out on enrolment as students took admission in little known and unaided colleges which overlooked the mass bunking. The financial partnership between colleges and coaching classes ensures that the wheels of the multi-crore business keep moving smoothly.