Haryana Government's Geo-Fenced Attendance System Draws Criticism from Health Department Employees

Strategic Insights -

The Haryana government's initiative to implement a geo-fenced-based attendance management system for health department officials and staff has been met with resistance from the employees. The system, which works through a mobile application that captures the presence of healthcare professionals at their places of posting, has been disapproved by the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA), an umbrella organization of government doctors in the state.

HCMSA, in a representation to the Director General of Health Services (DGHS), expressed concerns that the system breaches the fundamental right to privacy, as upheld by the Supreme Court in its judgement in justice KS Puttaswamy versus Union of India case on August 24, 2017. The association contended that tracking a doctor's location is unwarranted, leading to an environment of constant surveillance.

Key Takeaways:

  • The Haryana government's geo-fenced attendance system has been disapproved by the Haryana Civil Medical Services Association (HCMSA) due to concerns over breach of privacy.
  • The system requires installation of a mobile application on personal devices to track doctor's location, which is considered an unwarranted invasion of privacy.
  • The HCMSA cited a Supreme Court judgement in justice KS Puttaswamy versus Union of India case on August 24, 2017, to support its argument against the system.
  • The system has been proposed as a mandatory component of disbursal of salary for health officials, based on data of geo-fenced based attendance management system.
  • The HCMSA executive body meeting on June 1 unanimously disapproved the proposed system.
  • HCMSA general secretary Dr Anil Yadav signed the representation to the DGHS, highlighting the concerns over the system's impact on doctor's privacy.
  • The HCMSA represents an umbrella organization of government doctors in the state, emphasizing that the concerns are representative of the larger medical community in Haryana.

Statistics:

  • The Haryana government's geo-fenced attendance system requires installation of a mobile application on personal devices to track doctor's location.
  • The system has been proposed as a mandatory component of disbursal of salary for health officials, based on data of geo-fenced based attendance management system.
  • The HCMSA executive body meeting on June 1 unanimously disapproved the proposed system.

Sources:

  • "Haryana government moves to implement geo-fenced attendance system; activists object to 'Big Brother' oversight".

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from HT Chandigarh.

June 9.