KMC to start biometric attendance for conservancy workers

Kolkata: Kolkata Municipal Corporation (KMC) will start biometric attendance for conservancy workers in all its 144 wards by next month. There are 55 wards in the city in which the system has already been implemented. The move is aimed at ensuring that the conservancy workers are committed and regular in their work.

"The labourers entrusted with conservancy work have to report at the ward office at 6 am through biometric input in the morning and sign off at 1 pm. We have seen that with the workload a five hour job is desirable for them and with the workforce that we have in each of the wards, the garbage disposal can be done during this period. The biometric attendance has ensured transparency in their work. So in a month's time we will implement the biometric attendance system in all the wards," said Debabrata Majumder, Member, Mayor-in-Council (Solid Waste Management), in response to a query from Left Front councillor Nihar Bhakta at the monthly meeting of KMC on Friday. Majumder said that in case of some wards which have a very large area, KMC may consider developing infrastructure of biometric attendance at more than one location within that ward, so that the labourers can register their attendance without any hassle.

Councillor Jiban Saha of ward 4 has recently placed a proposal in this regard to the SWM department.

It may be mentioned that Kolkata has been the first in the country to introduce compactor stations that have gradually replaced almost all open vats in the city. KMC has also introduced pollution-free battery operated vehicles in the city for collection of waste.

"We are in the process of procuring more such vehicles to replace all hand-pulled vehicles that are used for garbage disposal in the city," a senior SWM official said.