MAPUSA
In a significant push towards digitisation and improved governance, the State government on Friday rolled out a facial recognition-based attendance system for all Panchayati Raj institutions in the State, covering 191 village panchayats, Block Development Offices (BDOs), Deputy Director offices and other related entities.
Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, along with Panchayats Minister Mauvin Godinho and senior officials, launched the AI-powered ‘Niyamith’ app, designed to modernise employee monitoring and enhance transparency in public service delivery.
Director of Panchayats Siddhi Halarnakar explained that the new system requires employees to download the Niyamith app on their smartphones and log their attendance using facial recognition. The app captures their location to ensure the login is done from the office premises.
“It’s a simple and user-friendly system. Employees need to mark attendance four times a day – upon arrival, before and after the lunch break, and while leaving,” Halarnakar said, adding that if an employee’s phone is lost or damaged, they may log in using a colleague’s device without compromising data integrity.
The real-time attendance data is transmitted to a centralised dashboard accessible to senior officials, including the Panchayats Minister, allowing for better monitoring and accountability across all panchayat offices.
“There’s no scope for misuse as the location verification ensures that the employee is physically present at the office while logging in,” Halarnakar assured.
The facial recognition attendance system, currently exclusive to the Panchayati Raj institutions, is expected to be extended to other departments like Transport and Industries in the near future.
Other government departments have also been encouraged to adopt the system voluntarily.