In order to elevate the efficiency of government offices in the state of Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has provided directions to install biometric machines within the offices up to the block level. Such a move would not only mark the attendance but keep a track of officials’ in-time as well.

The Chief Minister of India’s most populous state has ordered for the expansion of biometric attendance in a bid to track attendance in government offices and follows the earlier efforts of tracking government officials at the higher levels.

The requirement was announced alongside public postings of government staff and ongoing projects at the village level to ensure accountability and transparency on the part of government.

The directive from the Chief Minister came late at Saturday night on 22nd April during a meeting with the officials of rural development department.

As per an official statement, Yogi Adityanath was quoted as saying ‘efforts should be made to ensure that biometric attendance systems are installed up to the block level. Moreover, a board should be put up at every village panchayat stating the details of the village pradhan and the ongoing works within the village.’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also considers biometrics to be a productivity boosting technology and had asked for a biometric system earlier. The Chief Minister also stated that how it is pivotal to achieve the goals of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna.

The CM has been advising officials to bring a change in their working environment and style, in order to move towards cleaner and better governance.

Just after taking the oath as the chief minister, Adityanath said, ‘if you don’t want to work 18-20 hours a day, make way.’

Earlier in Lucknow, two if the state’s ministers held surprise checks at their offices where they found them to be deserted at 10 in the morning.

Chief Minister Adityanath has also been reported asking to link payments of each and every Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGS) worker with the Aadhaar based payment systems. During the same meeting, he demanded reports on water-based schemes such as Neer Nirmal, the scheme aided by World Bank, Rajya Grameen Payjal Yojna and National Rural Drinking Water Program.

However, this is not the first time a state has directed the use of biometric technology. Earlier, the Delhi government introduced the biometric attendance system in all the government offices and the secretariat in a bid to ensure efficacious functioning.