BENGALURU: Karnataka govt will replace its biometric attendance system with an artificial intelligence (AI) and GIS-enabled platform from May 1, aiming to boost accountability and simplify logging of daily attendance by employees. The move will cover more than five lakh govt employees and around 15 lakh contractual workers across departments, boards and corporations.Karnataka Advanced Attendance Management System (KAAMS), to be accessed through the ‘Kartavya’ mobile application, will require employees and contractual staff members to mark attendance by taking a selfie through the app at the start and end of their workday.An order issued by the department of personnel and administrative reforms Tuesday mandates that attendance be recorded only through the new system from May 1, formally phasing out biometric devices.For those who do not have smartphones, the govt has installed ‘Kartavya’ devices.Kartavya’ devices, currently installed at key locations such as Vidhana Soudha, Vikasa Soudha and M S Building,will facilitate AI-enabled attendance system. Other offices can request similar facilities to be installed at their premises.Officials said the system has already been piloted in departments such as health, education and the Legislative Assembly Secretariat, where it delivered positive results. So far, more than 1.3 lakh staff from 51 departments have registered on the platform.For employees, this switch will do away with the need to queue up at office entry points to get their attendance registered, while introducing stricter location-based verification.KAAMS uses AI and geo-tagging to enable realtime tracking, allowing staff to log attendance from their place of posting or while on assignments.“KAAMS is more cost-effective compared to the biometric system. Employees can also mark attendance from their place of deputation,” said Bhoobalan T, CEO of the Centre for e-Governance.To support the rollout, all govt offices have been instructed to provide geo-coordinates and integrate their databases with the KAAMS platform. The e-Governance department will oversee the integration, while departments must appoint nodal officers to manage the implementation.
