BENGALURU: Soon, faculty members of Bangalore University cannot wriggle out of taking regular classes. The university will monitor attendance by using the biometric attendance system.
As per directions from the Department of Higher Education, the university has decided to install biometric instruments at all post-graduate departments at Jnana Bharati campus.
According to official information, the instruments will be installed at the campus in 10 days. Prof K K Seetamma, registrar (administration) told Express, “We are installing 10 instruments on a trial basis at the Head Office and the Examination Department.”
The University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines mandate teachers to be present in the department and take classes for five hours a day. If they go out for academic purposes, it must be registered in the movement register maintained in each department.
Faculty members who skip classes will face action. “In case of emergency situations and for academic work, they can go out after mentioning this in the movement register. But they cannot keep doing so frequently. In case any faculty member does so regularly, we will initiate disciplinary action against him/her,” Dr B Thimme Gowda, vice-chancellor of the university, said.
The university will link biometric attendance to the National Network of Higher Education by connecting it to Aadhaar numbers. “There are chances the system may be tampered with. Keeping that in mind, we have decided to link it with Aadhaar numbers,” the V-C explained.
The biometric attendance system will also apply to non-teaching staff of the university.
Biometric attendance has already been implemented at the under-graduate level. Attendance of government first-grade college teachers across the state is monitored through the system. At this level, the system is connected to the central office of the Department of Collegiate Education and absence without intimation or coming in late reflects on the salaries of staff.
Failed First Effort
When Dr N Prabhu Dev was vice- chancellor, he tried to bring in the biometric system at the university, but the faculty members vehemently opposed the proposal. The devices installed at a few departments on a pilot basis were vandalised and Prabhu Dev was forced to withdraw the decision.