To address the issue of employees being late, the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, has instructed all employees, including senior officials, to report to work by 9.15 am and record their attendance using the biometric system.
According to the report, employees have been informed that they will lose half a day of casual leave if they do not report to work on time. Emphasis has been placed on the use of biometric attendance system over the traditional registration-based system.
The circular also states that if employees are unable to come to the office on a particular day, they must inform their superiors in advance and apply for casual leave.
The Ministry of Transport has instructed senior officials to monitor attendance and punctuality of employees in each department. Though central government offices are open from 9 am to 5.30 pm, it is widely known that employees in departments that deal with the public often show up late or leave early, causing inconvenience to the public.
Government employees, especially senior officials, claim that they often work beyond their designated working hours. They claim that they often work from home, including on holidays and weekends, as office files are now available through electronic means.
Soon after coming to power in 2014, the Modi government introduced an Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system to enforce office attendance hours. The system was temporarily suspended during the COVID-19 pandemic but was resumed in February 2022.
The latest circular warned that action may be taken against government employees who habitually arrive late or leave early, which is expected to improve efficiency in government functioning.
