Biometric attendance in govt offices from November 8

The office memorandum -- which overrides a June 14 DoPT order continuing the suspension of biometric attendance -- means attendance registers will no longer be used in government offices

 Biometric attendance in government offices, which was discontinued after the Covid-19 outbreak, will resume from November 8 with adequate precautions, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said in a government order on Monday.

Biometric attendance in government offices, which was discontinued after the Covid-19 outbreak, will resume from November 8. (Representational image)

The office memorandum -- which overrides a June 14 DoPT order continuing the suspension of biometric attendance -- means attendance registers will no longer be used in government offices.

“Physical distancing of 6 feer must be maintained while marking attendance... additional biometric machines can be installed to avoid overcrowding,” said the latest order.

“As far as possible the scanners should be placed in an outside/open air environment. If indoor, adequate natural ventilation should be maintained,” the office memorandum added. Meetings, however, will continue be to be done via video conference as far as possible and personal meetings with visitors are to be avoided

The decision is in a series of moves being taken in different parts of the country as the caseload reduces after a brutal second wave. On Monday, India had 158,817 active infections -- from a high of 263,533 cases on May 18 this year, and down 455 cases from the day before.

In June, DoPT asked officials of the rank of under secretary and above to attend office on all working days. Officials below the rank continued to work from office at 50% capacity, with staggered timings still in place. The department reversed its order from the third week of April, wherein the government brought back staggered timings and work from home for junior officials (deputy secretary and below) as the number of daily Covid-19 cases continued to rise at an alarming rate. A number of ministries, however, issued guidelines for work from home before the official DoPT memorandum starting April 15 when the country was recording neat 230,000 cases daily. These included the ministry of home affairs, consumer affairs, information and broadcasting and higher education. Most offices have now returned to full attendance.