The Lucknow University Teachers Association (LUTA) on Thursday strongly opposed the introduction of biometric attendance system in the varsity and said the move smacked of “sign of distrust and disrespect for teachers”.
The officiating registrar of Lucknow University (LU) Sanjay Medhavi had on August 2 issued an order directing all teachers/non-teaching staff of the varsity to ensure that they attend the office on time every day and register their attendance on the biometric machine.
The order further read that the payment of salaries of all teachers and staff will be linked with the biometric attendance from the month of August 2022.
LUTA president Vineet Kumar Verma and general secretary Rajendra Kumar Verma in a letter to LU vice chancellor prof Alok Kumar Rai said the registrar order was a result of increasing influence of bureaucracy in universities.
“We have obtained A++ grade without biometric attendance,” the association said adding that the order aims at attacking the autonomy of university rather than academic quality.
The letter further read, “The language of the order issued by the registrar is very objectionable and hurts the dignity of the teachers. The registrar can issue a letter to teachers only after instruction or approval of the vice-chancellor. The letter issued by the registrar directly to the teachers is unfair and illegal. Therefore, the teachers union requests the VC to take necessary action in the said subject so that it does not recur in future.”
{{/usCountry}}The letter further read, “The language of the order issued by the registrar is very objectionable and hurts the dignity of the teachers. The registrar can issue a letter to teachers only after instruction or approval of the vice-chancellor. The letter issued by the registrar directly to the teachers is unfair and illegal. Therefore, the teachers union requests the VC to take necessary action in the said subject so that it does not recur in future.”
{{/usCountry}}To note in April this year, governor Anandiben Patel, who is also chancellor of the state universities, had said biometric attendance will be linked to their monthly salaries.
As per the order, all educational institutions were required to make arrangements to install biometric machines where staff may record their attendance through fingerprint or face reading.
The arrangements were to be made in such a way that their attendance records are directly uploaded to the central server system of the universities and colleges.
The governor had further added that educational institutes can use any generalised software and hardware available in the market that is compatible with computers. Governor had also directed that data stored in biometric machines should be properly protected and maintained.