AP to resume biometric attendance for health staff amidst stiff resistance
Vijayawada: The Andhra Pradesh government would resume the Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance system in all offices and other centres in the health department though there is stiff resistance from the medical fraternity. Doctors and other healthcare staff fear this will add to the spread of the infection.
The director of public health and family welfare issued an advisory recently requesting all the regional directors of the medical and health services and district health officers to ensure implementation of the biometric attendance and also e-office file management system in all offices and institutions falling under the directorate of public health and family welfare by the end of August.
The medical fraternity comprising a host of doctors and health personnel has opposed the directive and said this would expose them more to the pandemic and, worse, they would also become carriers and spreaders of the virus.
They recalled that during the first wave, all government and private institutions and establishments had been asked to give up registration of biometric attendance and adapt themselves to use of manual attendance registers. They have expressed surprise as to how the health authorities intended to resume the practice again even as the threat of a third wave of the pandemic existed.
The main contention of the doctors is that they have been fully involved in the Covid care in hospitals as also attending meetings related to control of the pandemic, all through the day from the early hours till late at night. So, why this strict adherence to office entry and exit register at this time, they ask.
A PHC medical officer from Krishna district said, “We have been working for Covid control for so long. If we repeatedly stamp our thumbs on a biometric machine, as we stream out and stream in, for meetings etc, there is every chance of a spread of the coronavirus not only among us but also to patients and to our families.”
A doctor from Visakhapatnam said, “There may be a few health personnel who are skipping work. But, for this reason, all should not be suspected or troubled.”
AP government doctors association convener Dr Jayadheer said, “It is better to defer registration of biometric attendance by a few months for the benefit of all. In case it is linked to our wages, we will have to stage a protest.”
Health director Dr Geetha Prasadini said, “We want to ensure the presence of all health staff at work to serve patients in a better way by reviving the biometric attendance system in compliance with Covid protocol. We are getting information on how many biometric attendance devices are functioning and also of the connectivity issues in rural and tribal areas. Accordingly, we will take a final decision on the time to revive it.”
