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Some public offices across India are reintroducing biometric attendance record-keeping for staff with fingerprints, a practice common in India’s public sector, but which was put on hold in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The various reports discuss transparency, but resumption of the contact-based systems may also be to force a return to the office.
One of the institutions returning to fingerprint biometric attendance is the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), writes the
Hindustan Times. It cites a circular issued by Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar which states that civic staff in all PMC offices must register their attendance at work using biometrics from June 1, 2022, as the expanded system is reintroduced.
In the state of Manipur, biometric attendance tracking resumed on June 1 as well, with the government insisting that it is obligatory for all staff, according to news portal
East Mojo. The state government says the objective is to ensure that office staff are punctual at work and accountable and transparent in all their dealings.
The decision by the Manipur government to resume biometric attendance was arrived at during a cabinet meeting that took place in April, the same time another decision was taken to roll out a five-day work week (spanning Monday-Friday).
The practice is also resuming at the Rajya Sabha secretariat which has 1,300 staff, reports
ANI. The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of India’s bi-cameral Parliament.
The article alludes to an internal circular from the secretariat which mentions that the Aadhaar-enabled Biometric Attendance System (ABAS), suspended in 2020 as a result of Covid, is resuming and that “accordingly, all officers/staff of the Rajya Sabha secretariat are instructed to mark their attendance on ABAS machines with effect from June 1, 2022.”
The report also notes that there was a trial for the ABAS which ran until May 31, during which staff who had not registered their biometrics had the opportunity to do so, while issues of functionality with the system were also assessed.
Fingerprint sensor market to reach $5.92 billion by 2028
This return to the use of fingerprint biometric machines for attendance in India’s public service comes at a time when market analysis reports suggest the fingerprint sensor market is set to grow by US$5.92 billion in revenue by 2028, with a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 10.7 percent.
The report by Vantage Market Research holds that this will principally be driven by factors such as the increasing demand for consumer devices with fingerprint sensors and increasing investments from government as well as major players and extensive use of fingerprint sensors in biometric authentication.
While the report provides an in-depth analysis of the impact of the COVID on the fingerprint sensor market, it also projects that the Asia Pacific region will dominate the global fingerprint sensor market within the period under review, and also cites major market players with their expected sales volume, business strategy and revenue analysis.
The report breaks down its analysis of the global fingerprint sensor market by technology, type, product, and end-use.
Contactless fingerprint technology appears to have received a boost in attention during the pandemic, but sensor-dependent contact fingerprint biometrics are clearly
bouncing back from difficult market conditions.
Some public offices across India are reintroducing biometric attendance record-keeping for staff with fingerprints, a practice common in India’s public sector, but which was put on hold in 2020 due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The various reports discuss transparency, but resumption of the contact-based systems may also be to force a return to the office.
One of the institutions returning to fingerprint biometric attendance is the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), writes the Hindustan Times. It cites a circular issued by Municipal Commissioner Vikram Kumar which states that civic staff in all PMC offices must register their attendance at work using biometrics from June 1, 2022, as the expanded system is reintroduced.
In the state of Manipur, biometric attendance tracking resumed on June 1 as well, with the government insisting that it is obligatory for all staff, according to news portal East Mojo. The state government says the objective is to ensure that office staff are punctual at work and accountable and transparent in all their dealings.
The decision by the Manipur government to resume biometric attendance was arrived at during a cabinet meeting that took place in April, the same time another decision was taken to roll out a five-day work week (spanning Monday-Friday).
The practice is also resuming at the Rajya Sabha secretariat which has 1,300 staff, reports ANI. The Rajya Sabha is the Upper House of India’s bi-cameral Parliament.
The article alludes to an internal circular from the secretariat which mentions that the Aadhaar-enabled Biometric Attendance System (ABAS), suspended in 2020 as a result of Covid, is resuming and that “accordingly, all officers/staff of the Rajya Sabha secretariat are instructed to mark their attendance on ABAS machines with effect from June 1, 2022.”
The report also notes that there was a trial for the ABAS which ran until May 31, during which staff who had not registered their biometrics had the opportunity to do so, while issues of functionality with the system were also assessed.