To ensure accountability and transparency, the Telangana State Technological Services (TSTS) has decided to introduce biometric attendance system (BMAS) for students and staff of all polytechnic colleges and engineering colleges offering polytechnic education from this academic year.
Enfiorcing discipline
Accordingly, the State Board of Technical Education and Training (SBTET) issued orders on June 1 instructing all polytechnics to implement Aadhaar-based biometric attendance on all working days for the students and staff as a means of maintaining discipline. So much so that the students would not be allowed to appear for the end semester exam if their attendance is low.
It has also instructed the institutions to ensure that all BMAS be mapped to college location (GPS enabled) and the biometric devices provided by TSTS be installed at the entrance of the institutions.
In this connection, principals of all the institutions concerned have been instructed to submit complete details of all the students and faculty along with their Aadhaar number, e-mail address and phone number by June 5. The government has also issued instructions to colleges to collect ₹100 per student along with examination fee for the installation of BMAS devices.
Official sources said the introduction of BMAS was the best way to ensure regularity of students and provide fee reimbursement to students properly. The system would deny fee reimbursement scheme to absentees and not allow them to appear for the examinations, they maintained. They also clarified that they would install more BMAS devices outside all classrooms to avoid queue.
Note of dissent
This move has, however, not gone down well with private polytechnic institutions, who argue that it is a time-consuming affair since most students tend to arrive in college at the same time. In case of technical errors such as network problems and power cuts, the BMAS may stop working and cause commotion among the student community about their attendance, they added.
