Aadhaar-based biometric attendance at Tripura Secretariat

The Tripura government has introduced Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system at the state secretariat aiming to bring in more discipline among staff and encourage minimal use of paper for official work.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb said his government was working on reducing "unnecessary workload" and increase efficiency and accountability among employees.

We have 996 employees working in the state secretariat. All of them are very enthusiastic about the new system, the chief minister said.

He also said the central government pays huge sums to buy paper used in official work. Judicious use of the commodity can save a lot of money, he said.

The biometric attendance system would go a long way in curbing unnecessary use of paper, he said.

Earlier this month, the BJP-IPFT (Indigenous People's Front of Tripura) government imposed a set of restrictions on use of paper in government offices.

In an office memorandum issued by the Department of General Administration (Secretariat Administration) on July 16, Secretary TK Chakma said the state government has adopted a decision to give stress on importance of economic use of paper in government offices.

Deb said attendance log books were things of the past as nobody needed to keep record of employees attending the office and store them in secure lockers, which makes the entire process lengthy.

The new system will be robust, self-dependent and easy to use. Depending on others for attendance and other regular chores were done in old days. Now, everyone has to take responsibility. Tripura has to be made a model state in the next three years, Deb said, reiterating his aim to develop Tripura well ahead of the end of his tenure as chief minister.

Deb became the Chief Minister of Tripura in March this year.

Deb also said digital attendance and other digitized services would be good for everyone and would put an end to babu culture.

The state government hopes to extend digital attendance services to other offices in a phased manner.