The Scope Complex in New Delhi is the largest government office complex in the capital.

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Longer working hours for bureaucrats likely

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is in the process of phasing out the manual system of attendance in all central government offices over the next couple of months.

NEW DELHI: The Narendra Modi government will phase out the manual system of attendance in all central government offices over the next couple of months, and replace it with an Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS). The AEBAS, which will also cover attached and subordinate offices of the central government, will be installed across establishments in the capital by December 31 and in other places by January 26 next year, the department of personnel and training said on Friday.According to a DoPT note circulated to all ministries and departments, the biometric attendance will only be an enabling platform with no change in rules regarding office hours, late attendance etc. The note makes it clear that leaving office early will be treated on par with late attendance, and entail debiting of half a day’s casual leave for each day of early leaving and disciplinary action in case the government servant is found habitually logging out early from work.As per the late attendance rules revised last in 1982, half a day’s casual leave should be debited for each day of late attendance, though late attendance up to an hour may be condoned by the competent authority, if it’s not more than twice in a month and for justifiable reasons. However, disciplinary action must be taken against government employees who are habitually late for work.According to the biometric attendance data for central government offices now available on the net, the average in-time as on Friday was 9.29am, while the average out-time was 5.38pm.The office hours for central government stretch from 9am to 5.30pm, with a half-an-hour lunch break in between.The DoPT note sent to all ministries and departments on Friday announced that the biometric attendance equipment is to be procured directly as per specifications by department of electronics and information technology (DeitY) on DGS&D rate contract, from authorized vendors. The expenditure on the same must be met by the ministries/departments themselves under their office expenditure.“The manual system of attendance may be phased out accordingly,” said the DoPT. It added that DeitY will provide the technical guidance for installing the system, and the equipment procured by DeitY will have a built-in annual maintenance contract (AMC) of three years. “The ministries /departments may ensure that the equipment being procured by them has similar provision,” said the DoPT.