HYDERABAD: Following complaints from faculty working in affiliated colleges that the biometric machines are unable to record their fingerprints, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Hyderabad has asked such faculty members to submit a certified letter from UIDAI that their fingerprint is not being recognised by the device. It may be recalled that earlier this year, nearly 12,000 faculty members in engineering and pharmacy colleges had been flagged on account of shortage of attendance, and their candidature for affiliation process for 2018-19 had not been accepted.
The principals of affiliated colleges are required to submit a letter to the varsity with the names of the faculty facing the problem of shortage of attendance, along with a copy of a certificate issued by the UIDAI confirming that their fingerprints are not being recognised by the biometric device.
Once this gets approved by the varsity, colleges can use an alternative to the BAS and then, during verification, send it as a proof of attendance.
Lauding the university’s move, Balakrishna Reddy, president, Telangana Technical Institutions Employees Association (TTIEA), said that lecturers who have the skin allergy or other related problem will benefit by this. “Now they will just need to get a copy of attendance register and salary statement from bank attested by the principal of the college as a proof and submit it to JNTU to get affiliation as a regular faculty,” he said. This has to be done on a monthly basis. Prof N Yadaiah, registrar JNTUH, said that move has been taken by the varsity to remind the affiliated colleges that BAS is mandatory for both students and faculty. “We don’t want colleges to later say that they did not know about it,” he said.