{Geo-fencing based attendance} Health department employees resent move, to meet authorities next week
In a statement, Haryana Civil Medical Services Association president Dr Rajesh Khyalia said that a meeting of state-level coordination committee formed to oppose the geo fencing based attendance system was held Friday evening.
Opposing the move to implement a geo-fenced-based attendance management system, a delegation of Haryana health department employees will meet the state authorities next week to express their concerns and resentment over the “undue imposition of such irrational orders.” The state government’s move to implement a geo-fenced-based attendance management system for health department officials and staff has been disapproved by the employees.
In a statement, Haryana Civil Medical Services Association president Dr Rajesh Khyalia said that a meeting of state-level coordination committee formed to oppose the geo fencing based attendance system was held Friday evening. “All the employee associations of the health department participated in the meeting. The issue of geo fencing based attendance system being imposed by the state government on employees of the health department was discussed in detail. The associations jointly condemned the inappropriate and irrational orders of the government regarding this issue,” he said.
Dr Khyalia said that exerting undue pressure on health employees to install the geo fencing app on their personal mobile devices, threatening them with actions like marking them absent and deducting their salary is highly condemnable and intolerable.
Haryana government’s move to implement geo-fenced-based attendance management system for health department officials and staff has been disapproved by the employees.
The geo-fenced attendance system works through a mobile application designed to capture the presence of healthcare professionals at their places of posting.
A May 30 communication by additional chief secretary, health to director general of health services (DGHS), mission director, National Health Mission (NHM) and chief executive of Ayushman Bharat Haryana Health Protection Authority said that disbursal of salary of health officials shall be strictly based on data of geo-fenced based attendance management system.
In a representation to the DGHS, the HCMS Association, an umbrella organisation of government doctors in the state, had said that there was a unanimous disapproval of the proposed system. The system mandates the installation of a mobile application on personal devices to track doctor’s location. This constituted a breach of privacy, which is a fundamental right as upheld by the Supreme Court in its August 24, 2017, judgement in justice KS Puttaswamy versus Union of India case. Tracking a doctor’s location is unwarranted, leading to an environment of constant surveillance,” said the representation signed by HCMSA general secretary Dr Anil Yadav.
The HCMSA said that the doctors have expressed concerns regarding the potential cybersecurity threats associated with the mobile application such as unauthorised access to sensitive personal data stored on mobile devices. The requirement to share personal data and install such apps creates vulnerabilities that compromise individual and organisational security, the association said.
“In light of these concerns, it was unanimously decided that HCMS doctors will not share their personal data or geo-fencing app on their mobile phones. Our concerns will be brought to the notice of higher authorities,” the representation said.
The Nursing Welfare Association, the Multipurpose Health Workers Association and the Association of Government Pharmacists in Haryana, in separate representations to the DGHS, have also conveyed unanimous disapproval of the proposed geo-fencing-based attendance management system.
