Latest news with #AadhaarEnabledBiometricAttendanceSystem
The Hindu
20-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
After NMC's show-cause notice, Bengal govt. passes ‘urgent order' to medical college
The West Bengal government issued an 'urgent order' on Monday mandating faculty members and senior residents of State-run Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital (NRSMCH) in Kolkata to mark their attendance twice a day (on arrival and departure) on the AEBAS FACE-based Aadhaar authentication application on their phone. Besides, they were also instructed to apply for leave 'via proper channel' on the online system. This comes weeks after the National Medical Commission (NMC) issued show-cause notice flagging eight 'deficiencies' at the NRSMCH. In the show-cause notice, the commission cited that 18 out of 20 departments have insufficient data in their Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS). It also highlighted other issues such as insufficient cadaver data, discrepancies during examinations, and unfilled vacancies of senior residents in several departments. The commission also mentioned 'a monetary penalty not exceeding ₹1 crore per violation or for any act of omission by the medical institution.' Other stringent action too will be stipulated, it stressed. 'Technical glitches' In response to the notice, principal of NRSMCH, Dr. Indira Dey, issued clarifications in a letter to the Director of the Undergraduate Medical Education Board of the NMC. She cited 'technical glitches'for insufficient attendance data. 'It is to be noted that they gave manual attendance on registers regularly. We are trying to improve the same,' Dr Dey wrote in her letter on May 10. The notice also cited that there was insufficient data on cadavers, bed occupancy, cytopathology, and operation theatres. For many of these allegations, the hospital authorities cited technical issues. The NMC also cited video evidence from August 1, 2024, and alleged that a certain examination hall 'looked too crowded and students were talking to each other while writing exam.' Furthermore, it underlined that according to data, bed occupancy at NRSMCH is only 73%. While the principal countered the allegation by claiming that bed occupancy in the hospital was over 80% in all months except June 2024, she also blamed the cease-work protests by junior doctors from August 2024 for a dip in the admission of patients. The resident doctors and medical students of NRSMCH were part of the protests that erupted in the State after the rape and murder of a female doctor on duty in August 2024. While the protests were largely motivated by the people's demand for justice for the victim, the medical fraternity, particularly the junior doctors, also demanded specific improvements in the public health infrastructure of West Bengal. In a related development, the NMC in a notification on May 19 said legal action is being taken against Sanjiban Hospital and Medical College in Howrah, which has allegedly been running a medical course without the commission's authorisation.
Hindustan Times
17-05-2025
- Business
- Hindustan Times
Chandigarh: From June 1, MC to link staff pay with biometric attendance
To enhance transparency and accountability among the workforce and identify the regular absentees or the ghost employees, the Chandigarh municipal corporation (MC) is set to link salaries with the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS) for all its employees, including regular, contractual, outsourced, and field staff from June 1, 2025. This decision was taken in a review meeting held on Thursday, under the municipal commissioner Amit Kumar. From April 1, biometric attendance had been made mandatory for all employees. Prior to this, only the office staff marked their attendance through a biometric system while the field staff used the old system of registering their presence on notebooks. Officials in the civic body said the move has come as a majority of the employees do not come to office as per their schedule or leave early. Also, the move aims to identify the ghost employees, especially those on the field duties. 'As part of this initiative, all MC employees must register on the NIC's Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS). Attendance will be marked using NIC's facial authentication via the AadhaarBAS/AadhaarFaceRD mobile application on personal smartphones. The salaries will be linked with the biometric system from June 1', commissioner said. It is worth mentioning that amid the financial crisis, MC is making efforts to rationalise its manpower after concerns were raised over a sharp increase in MC's annual expenses related to outsourced manpower, and civic body's inability to pay salaries of its staff amid the cash crunch. MC is also starting a comprehensive manpower audit to determine if the staff strength can be optimised, identify the ghost employees as complained about by several city councillors, and conduct a financial check of salaries to detect any irregularities. .
India Today
24-04-2025
- Health
- India Today
Medical colleges mandate face ID attendance to curb ghost faculty practices
In a move to combat the issue of "ghost" faculty members, the National Medical Commission (NMC) has mandated the use of face-based Aadhaar authentication for marking faculty attendance at medical colleges across India. The new system will fully replace the existing biometric attendance system starting from May 1, to a public notice from the NMC, all faculty members are required to install a face-based Aadhaar Authentication App on their mobile phones. This app is available for download on both the Android Play Store and the Apple App Store. The shift to this system aims to enhance the user experience and improve accuracy in attendance attendance at medical colleges is tracked through the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS). However, starting May 1, 2025, the NMC will discontinue the use of fingerprint-based devices for attendance and will exclusively use face-based biometric verification. The move is designed to prevent fraudulent practices, including the use of "ghost" faculty members who are only present during NMC has also instructed all medical colleges to provide GPS coordinates of key locations on campus, ensuring that attendance can only be recorded within a 100-meter radius of the specified points. This step is meant to further streamline the process and reduce the chances of attendance the NMC has emphasised the importance of this new system in eliminating the practice of "ghost faculties" — where faculty members are reported to be present during inspections, but are otherwise absent. This has been a longstanding issue in some colleges, particularly in subjects like anatomy, biochemistry, forensic medicine, pharmacology, and year, several medical colleges in Karnataka, including government institutions, were penalised for not meeting faculty requirements, prompting the NMC to take stricter the new system in place, the NMC will now be able to directly monitor faculty attendance, ensuring greater accountability across the nation's medical Watch
