NEW DELHI: The Delhi government has directed all its departments to install biometric attendance systems, making it mandatory for every employee, including senior bureaucrats such as Additional Chief Secretaries, Principal Secretaries, and Secretaries, to mark their presence daily at 9:30 am.
The move follows Chief Minister Rekha Gupta’s surprise inspection at the State GST office on Wednesday, where several officials, including senior officers, were found absent. Taking serious note of the lapse, the Chief Minister ordered the immediate issuance of show-cause notices to those absent and sought their biometric attendance records for the past month.
Until now, only officials below the rank of Secretary were required to register their attendance through biometric systems. The new directive expands the mandate to include top-level officers, aiming to enforce greater accountability across all levels of administration.
Sources said strict action will be taken against officials who arrive late, fail to mark attendance, or leave office prematurely. The Chief Minister has also called for a monthly report detailing the average arrival time of each official, signalling a tighter monitoring mechanism.
As per the order issued by the Administrative Reforms Department, the General Administration Department has been tasked with compiling daily attendance reports of senior officials, to be submitted to the Chief Secretary by 12 pm each day.