Srinagar, Oct 19: The biometric system in health department installed in GMC associated hospitals to keep tab on the attendance of employees and their punctuality, is turning out to be “a mere joke now”.
The biometric attendance has been made mandatory for the paramedical staff and other employees like sweepers, toilet cleaners, and not for the doctors, raising a question about the purpose of installing it in the GMC associated hospitals.
“It should have been mandatory for doctors as patients come to the hospitals to see doctors not to check the cleanliness of the hospital,” said a group of para-medical employees.
Official sources told KNS that it was earlier mandatory for all the employees, but later doctors managed to keep themselves away from bio-metric attendance, due to several reasons both unknown and known.
“Had this biometric attendance been mandatory for the doctors then they would remain under check when they come and leave the hospital, but they have managed to stay away from this routine. They can come and leave as per their wish,” said an employee.
The para-medical staff questions the authorities what was the purpose of installing bio-metric system in hospitals; was it for sweepers and other fourth-class employees or for the doctors as patients from far flung areas come to these tertiary care hospitals to see doctors not the sweepers.
“We fail to understand the logic behind it. We don’t have any problems with the technology, but we just want to know why doctors have been kept aloof from it. Isn’t it more mandatory for them than us,” a group of sweepers at Bone and Joint hospital said.
“I have never seen a doctor mark their attendances on the machine. I don’t know if they have take it lightly or just feel it nothing important,” an administrative official at Lal Ded hospital said.
Reports say that the lower rung employees are forced to do their attendances on biometric twice a day. “If we are late by a second we are marked absent, but the same doesn’t apply for doctors.” (KNS)