Picture for representational purpose only.

INDORE: Indore Municipal Corporation is gifting watches to heads of departments — to keep an eye on them. These watches are GPS-enabled and will help the municipal commissioner keep track of where officials are, and how much time they spend in office. And yes, they show time, too.

These watches will be handed out by the second week of August but most officials have no clue to it. It will be mandatory for all heads of all departments to wear these watches between 10.30am and 5.30pm — the official working hours.

IMC commissioner Asheesh Singh told TOI that the GPS watches will be compulsory for all additional commissioners, deputy commissioners, executive engineers and assistant engineers of IMC.

The smart watch will upload essential details — like when the official entered office and how much time they were at work or in the field — to the commissioner’s dashboard,” Singh said, adding: “Of course, they will show time and have inbuilt cameras as well.”

“The objective of these watches include prevention of misuse of manual attendance system, and maintaining transparency and accountability in day-to-day work,” Singh said.

Asked how the civic staff would take to it, senior officers told TOI that the HoDs may not have any problem, but middle and lower-level staff could resist if it trickles down to them.

Singh’s aim is improve administrative efficiency, officials said.

Initially, Indore Municipal Corporation is procuring 300 watches and will pay Rs 300 per year for each, say sources. A central government undertaking, called ITI , will provide these smart watches and end-to-end solutions. Live tracking of the person wearing it is very much possible, said an official.

“The geo-fencing function of this watch is far more precise than mobile phones,” he explained, adding that Nagpur Municipal Corporation has already introduced these watches under its cleanliness campaign and the idea was appreciated at national level.

These watches will be handed out by the second week of August but most officials have no clue to it. It will be mandatory for all heads of all departments to wear these watches between 10.30am and 5.30pm — the official working hours.

