Sikkim government tightens grip on employee conduct, daily attendance mandated

The Sikkim government has issued a memorandum mandating 'Online Attendance Management System' through facial recognition to automate daily attendance of government employees having offices in Tashiling Secretariat, Block 'A' from September 2.

The system will be implemented in the first phase from tomorrow.

Regarding the same, the government issued the followed instructions for strict compliance:

1. The state government has faced the normal working hours in the government offices from 10 am to 4:30 pm. The second and fourth Saturdays of every month have been declared as government holidays.

2. All government employees should report to duty latest by 10 am, and should remain in their respective offices till 4:30 pm.

3. 2 (two) Facial Recognition Devices have been installed in the Tashiling Secretariat at the entrance of Gate No, 1 and near VIP Gate No. 2 to capture attendance of the employees.

4. The concerned government employees who have been registered for Facial Recognition System should stand in front of one of the Cameras to capture their attendance for entry by 10:15 am. in the morning (A grace period of 15 minutes will be given in exceptional circumstances) and exit at 4:30 pm in the evening.

5. In case if any employee is found to have reported after 10:30 am, or left the place of duty before 4:30 pm without valid official reasons, half day casual leave shall be debited from employees casual leave account automatically.

6. If any employee is found to be absent from duty during office hour without proper leave application, it will be treated as unauthorised absence and shall be dealt with as per the relevant rules.

7. Attendance of the employees who have not registered till August 31, 2024 in the Facial Recognition System will be recorded as absent.

In lieu of the same, the government in its memorandum directed all employees to register and record their attendance during entry in the morning and exit in the evening.

Meanwhile, nodal officers for facial recognition system in the respective departments will submit the attendance reports to the concerned officer assigned with the responsibility of monitoring attendance on daily basis, while HoDs will monitor the attendance on weekly basis.