Social welfare department to install CCTV after biometric machines found damaged with water

Suspecting that some of the biometric machines installed at its offices to record attendance of staff were “deliberately damaged” by pouring water into them, Delhi Government’s social welfare department has decided to install CCTV cameras for catching the culprits, officials said on Monday.

The issue was discussed at a recent meeting chaired by a deputy director (administration) of the department.

At the meeting, the incharges of several district offices and welfare homes and institutions reported that the biometric attendance devices installed on their premises were frequently malfunctioning.

The superintendent of the caretaking branch told the meeting that repeated complaints of malfunctioning of biometric devices were being received from various offices.

It was also reported that during inspections carried out by the service engineers, water was found inside many biometric devices despite there being no water source or plumbing nearby.

“Such circumstances give rise to a reasonable apprehension that certain biometric devices may have been deliberately damaged,” according to the minutes of the meeting.

In view of the “seriousness” of the issue, it has been decided that all biometric attendance devices installed in the district offices as well as welfare homes will be placed under CCTV surveillance to safeguard the equipment and ensure accountability, the document stated.

Several office in-charges also reported practical difficulties in preparing attendance sheets strictly on the basis of biometric records due to staff often being on field duty and frequent malfunctioning of biometric devices at some locations.

Keeping these issues in view, it has been decided to explore the feasibility of implementing a mobile-based Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system integrated with the Face RD app and real-time geo-location, particularly for officials performing field duties.

The IT branch of the department has been directed to examine the technical feasibility of the plan and submit its recommendations.

During a review of the biometric system, it was observed that several offices were not submitting the attendance summary on a daily basis due to which a consolidated report could not be forwarded to Social Welfare Minister Ravinder Indraj Singh.

The office in-charges of the department have also been directed to nominate nodal officers and furnish staff details at the earliest, officials said.