Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, August 27

In a major climbdown, the Governor’s administration has quietly withdrawn a recent order linking the biometric attendance with the Aadhaar numbers of the employees, which had greatly improved the attendance in government offices.

As per the latest circular issued by the general administration department on August 21, while the employees have been asked to mark attendance through the biometric attendance system, it has further been stated that the attendance system which has no link to the Aadhaar card shall be followed.

Former Governor NN Vohra, who demitted office on August 23, had asked the administration to ensure that the biometric attendance system was installed in every office in the state as soon as he took over the administration after the fall of the PDP-BJP government.

As per an order issued by the general administration department (GAD) on June 22, it was decided to immediately implement the biometric attendance system. A standard operating procedure was also issued.

Subsequently, vide an order dated July 17, 2018, issued by Chief Secretary BVR Subrahmanyam, all employees were asked to get themselves enrolled for Aadhaar and also get registered on the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system (AEBAS) by July 23. It was made clear that the employees not enrolled for Aadhaar by this date would not be put on the biometric attendance system and would be liable for loss of pay.

By July-end, of the 4.5 lakh government employees, over three lakh had already got themselves registered on the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system. The attendance and punctuality in the government offices had improved to a great extent.

However, as soon as new Governor SP Malik took over, the general administration department quietly issued another order with a back date of August 21, 2018, whereby it withdrew the June 22 and July 17 orders, citing previous Supreme Court and Jammu and Kashmir High Court directions in the matter.

“The employees shall mark attendance through biometric attendance system. The general administration department shall notify the separate standard operating procedure in this regard. Till such time, the current attendance system without any link to the Aadhaar card shall be followed,” reads the latest order issued by Hilal Ahmad, Commissioner Secretary, general administration department.