GPS Technology Gains as Staff Lose Pay

The MC does not think so, although. Plans are afoot to hand over the GPS-enabled watches to employees of the engineering wing of the corporation next.

PANCHKULA: Data generated from GPS-enabled watches has helped the municipal corporation (MC) deduct the salary of 15 employees for being absent from duty in August in technology coming in handy to improve efficiency and ensure punctuality.

The action comes after two warnings were issued to errant workers who handed the watches in June. The civic body is using the device to record attendance, prevent and control misuse of manual attendance system, maintain transparency and accountability in operations, and weed out “fake workers”. The official claimed 85% attendance improvement after the GPS watches were introduced.

Data for the month of August further revealed that 28 employees had damaged the watch costing Rs 800 to escape scrutiny. Their destructive behavior is going to lighten their pocket — the MC will recover the cost of the watch from all of them.

Rajesh Jogpal, MC commissioner, said the fine will act as a deterrent. “Employees thought by damaging their watches they could skip their duties. With this technology, it is not possible,” he said.

The official said cases of absenteeism, giving watches to others to show their presence on the field —three employees had a trick in August — and damaging the watches have been regularly coming to the fore. Jogpal said verbal warnings were initially issued on the basis of weekly reports generated by the control room set up to monitor staff movement. He said wards were distributed among employees so that they knew their area of duty following the distribution of watches — a move that drew stiff opposition from the sanitation staff. They said not only they are being tracked but also asked to send their photographs through the watches on many occasions.

“Nowhere in India, this system is followed to monitor the staff. Why in Panchkula then? We feel like slaves instead of employees,” said Narisgh Lohia, president of Safai Karamchari Union. The MC does not think so, although. Plans are afoot to hand over the GPS-enabled watches to employees of the engineering wing of the corporation next.