Assam govt asks offices to stop using fingerprint-based

The Assam government on Monday asked all offices and institutes to stop using fingerprint- based attendance systems, as a precautionary measure to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

The directive shall remain in force till March 31 and during this period, attendance should be marked manually in the office registers, a notification issued by the state's health and family welfare department said.

Any other biometric attendance system which does not involve physical contact such as face recognition, can continue to be in force, it said.

The state government also capped the number of daily visitors to the Janata Bhawan complex or the state secretariat to 100 till March 31.

"Mass gatherings and movement of daily visitors from various places will be restricted to a minimum level in the Janata Bhawan complex," an official release said.

Issuing of all kinds of passes, including vehicle entry passes, has also been stopped with immediate effect, it said.

The secretariat administration department will issue passes only in urgent cases on receipt of request in advance, the release added.