Fudging of Biometric Attendance: DC orders inquiry

Excelsior Correspondent
RAMBAN, May 18: Deputy Commissioner (DC), Ramban, Mussarat Islam has ordered an inquiry against 450 employees of nine Government Departments who during random monitoring found marking their biometric attendance away from their offices/ schools using their mobile phones.
Separate directions were issued to all District & Sectoral Officers for ensuring the implementation of Aadhar-Enabled Biometric Attendance System in offices to ensure availability of staff in resolving matters of public importance and dissemination of quality education in Government Schools.
DC Ramban office has been monitoring the implementation of the standing orders issued by the Government to ensure presence of employees in their offices during random monitoring of biometric attendance of various employees in the departments like School Education, Child Welfare Committee Ramban, Sheep & Wool Development Office Banihal etc and it was observed that employees are marking their biometric attendance away from their offices by using their mobile phones.
It was observed that a far greater number of employees are fudging their biometric attendance by using mobile phones, for which activation codes are being shared by their respective Drawing & Disbursing Officers (DDOs) and from the scrutiny of the gaps observed in marking of biometric attendance, it has been found that majority of the DDOs seem to be in connivance with the employees.
The Deputy Commissioner’s office has taken a serious view of the deep nexus of tampering with biometric attendance and sharing of activation codes by the concerned DDOs.
The DC ordered to the DDOs of the involved nine departments to explain their position by 4 pm on Friday positively and share details of employees involved in this fraud which is primarily aimed at facilitating the employees to play truant from their official duties, falling which action under rules shall be initiated against DDOs and the employees who are marking their attendance by using mobile phones/laptops, aided by DDOs by sharing activation codes for their respective office location.
“Till further orders, no DDOs of the aforesaid departments as well as the employees caught marking their biometric attendance through mobile phones shall draw their salaries,” the order maintained.
Further, all DDOs in District Ramban were directed to share device IDs/details of the employees who are either marking their biometric attendance through laptops or mobiles, enabling office of DC to proceed further in the matter.