Daily Times

LAHRORE: The biometric attendance system installed in all basic health units (BHUs) and rural health centres (RHCs) has flopped within four months of installation.

A global positioning system-based biometric system was installed in the health facilities across the Punjab to ensure 100 percent attendance of doctors and other paramedics. The system was installed in all BHUs and RHCs, because employees used to slip from the health centre by making false entries in the attendance register.

The biometric attendance system was supposed to provide real-time data about the attendance of employees via online dashboard, eliminate ghost employees, ensure transparency, improve capacity and productivity of institutions and departments.

A source in Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SHC) Department told Daily Times the biometric attendance system worth millions of rupees and hundreds of attendance machines had been installed to make health delivery network more effective by ensuring presence of doctors and other employees at BHUs and RHCs during their duty hours.

He said the launch of the system was a key component of the government’s health reforms agenda for its department and system was linked with pay slips of employees, in case of absence, salary of the relevant staff members would be deducted.

He added that a letter has been written by P&SHC Department Secretary Ali Jan to all executive health officers (health) revealed that all biometric attendance devices installed at BHUs and RHCs have been damaged in each districts under mysterious circumstances.

He said that thumb scanners are found damaged and charging adapter were stolen or misused at various locations. He said action may be taken and names of the violators would be shared so that the same does not happen in the future.

Sources said that in spite of providing medicine and other equipments at these primary level health centers, millions of rupees would be spent in respect of repair of these devices. No Health Department will have to pay Rs 1,365 for battery, Rs 8,400 for fingerprint PCBA complete unit, Rs 7,350 for fingerprint sensor, Rs 210 for fingerprint FPC, Rs 2,730 for LCD and Rs 1,195 for touch panel.

Similarly Rs 1,100 to 13,650 for PCBA, Rs 420 for charging jack, Rs 630 for power adapter, Rs 315 for power button, Rs 1,260 for front housing power button, Rs 315 for antenna, Rs 262 for SIM jacket, Rs 840 for packing box and Rs 1,000 would be spent on miscellaneous  expenditures.

The Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) has planned to undergo a plan to fix the issues concerning biometric devices at district level, The EDOs are directed to ensure all the non-functional, damaged or dead biometric devices are called in their offices.