Panaji: The Directorate of Panchayats will introduce a
new facial recognition-based attendance system for its employees, replacing the existing fingerprint biometric method, starting August 1.
An official from the directorate said that Goa Electronics Limited (GEL) has been entrusted with the implementation of the new system, which will cover all village panchayats, block development offices, and the directorate’s headquarters.
“At present, we are collecting facial data of employees to prepare the system for use,” the official said.
The new technology will use artificial intelligence to scan an employee’s face, capture their location, and log their time of arrival and departure. The data will be uploaded instantly to a central dashboard for monitoring.
The official added that the change was initiated following concerns raised in the Legislative Assembly about irregular staff attendance. The facial recognition system will help eliminate proxy punching, which was possible with older biometric systems.
The directorate expects the new system to address misuse seen in the earlier biometric setup and improve punctuality across all panchayat-level offices.
