DU drops biometric attendance proposal

Teachers worried about their attendance being tracked by a biometric system can breathe easy.

Teachers worried about their attendance being tracked by a biometric system can breathe easy.

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The executive council of Delhi University, in its meeting on Wednesday, dropped the topic of biometric attendance system for teachers from the agenda for discussion. The proposal had drawn a lot of flak from teachers.

Delhi University Teachers Association (DUTA), who were against the system, termed it as “as a triumph of teachers who are committed to this (teaching) noble profession”.

The DUTA members held a demonstration outside the executive council meeting to demand that the issue of biometric attendance be dropped.

Aditya Narayan Misra, president of DUTA, said, “The teachers already undergo multiple attendance process and there is no further need for any other attendance system. The executive council agreed to withdraw this item under pressure from our members.”

Strikes, demonstrations and a march to Parliament — the teachers did everything to oppose the proposed biometric system to check absenteeism, calling it an attack on their academic freedom.

They claimed it would restrict the movement of the teachers, which could affect their input, since teachers have to go to various libraries after classes, for research.

Academics for Action and Development had even suggested that the introduction of the new attendance system could spread the H1N1 virus.

Vice-Chancellor Deepak Pental had said the proposed system was just a way to monitor the attendance of teachers, and in no way did it question the teachers’ integrity.

After the executive council meeting on Wednesday, Pental said, “The decision to drop the proposed system was unanimous. We have now constituted a committee, which will take forward the recommendations to bring in accountability, including teacher absenteeism made by DUTA in 2000 with some modifications.”