In 2011, a biometric attendance system was introduced in all the six district courts in the national Capital to modernise them, to make the system paperless and to ensure punctuality of staff. But despite this, thousands of sheets of paper are used each day to manually mark attendance.
In an extensive exercise, finger prints of each member of the staff were taken and preserved in a database, with smart cards being handed out as well. The system aimed at better handling of attendance records — as electronic data needs less space and is tamper-proof. It has been four years now.
Biometric attendance system has become the norm, but thousands of sheets are still consumed every month for marking attendance.
An RTI filed by an advocate practicing in the Delhi High Court and District Courts has revealed that nearly 38,000 sheets of paper are consumed every month in all lower courts for marking attendance in the morning and evening.
This use of paper and the expense incurred is in addition to the cost of maintenance of the biometric system.
The advocate had sought to know how many sheets of paper are used as attendance sheets in every court.
The response to his query revealed that 370 sheets are used daily in Tis Hazari, 224 in Karkardooma, 214 in Saket, 207 in Rohini, 132 in Dwarka district and 122 in Patiala House courts — a total of 1,269 sheets per day.
There are a total 368 court rooms and 206 branches in all districts. Thousands of rupees are spent in maintaining the biometric system, with nearly Rs 18,000 per month being spent in the Central District alone.
The Dwarka court administration said the attendance sheet is sought by the administration branch for keeping tabs on staff deputed in place of those on leave.
When asked about the use of paper for marking attendance, despite the biometric system being in place, the Administration section (headquartered at Tis Hazari) said, “We are very much concerned about the environment as well as making courts less dependant on paper. Certain decisions have been taken in this direction, which will show a difference soon.”
The staff at Tis Hazari, meanwhile, said it was mandatory for all staff, those posted directly in courtrooms and those in branches like the general branch, administration branch, computer branch, Jail dak, to mark their attendance in the biometric system. Thereafter, they are also made to sign the attendance sheets.
A circular issued way back in November 2011, when the biometric system was introduced in the Tis Hazari court, read that all employees shall mark attendance through the biometric system.
“However, the prevailing practice of marking attendance in attendance register as well as attendance sheet shall continue till further directions…” the circular had stated.
The computer branch, which handles the biometric system, said the issue of doing away with the attendance sheets is before the centralized computer committee for consideration.
