The High Court has directed the Deputy Commissioner of Mysore district to consider and decide the representation given by the staff of Srikanteshwara temple in Nanjangud against biometric attendance system for them.
Justice V. Suri Appa Rao passed the order on Wednesday while disposing of a petition filed by Sri Srikanteshwara Temple Employees’ Welfare Association questioning notification issued by the executive officer of the temple in December 2011 based on the direction of the Deputy Commissioner.
The temple staff members were asked to register biometric attendance between 6 a.m. and 6.30 a.m. and again at 8 p.m. The employees’ association claimed that the job of the temple staff was different from that of government employees and they were bound to work for more than eight hours every day as the temple puja timings vary from time to time depending on Vedic scriptures and rituals, and on many occasions they work for 12 to 14 hours a day.