Under scrutiny scanner! Maharashtra govt directs colleges to install biometric attendance system for students

Mumbai, June 16: Giving education prime importance and ingesting a resolution, the Maharashtra State government has directed all the junior colleges to install biometric attendance system. The junior colleges especially those offering sciences courses have been made mandatory to install this attendance system within a month.

The government resolution (GR) to this effect was released on Friday and colleges are supposed to implement this rule within a month. The direction comes after the government received several complaints from junior colleges about students skipping college lectures to attend coaching classes. This will be applicable to all the junior colleges in Mumbai, Pune, Nagpur, Nasik, and Aurangabad region.

The government has taken the step after perceiving that the students remain present in their colleges only during practical classes or the coaching classes that gives integrated courses having tie-ups with the colleges. The GR said in order to stop this malpractice the decision has been taken by the state government.

The state education department had last year declared that biometric machines would be placed in colleges. The Maharashtra Coaching Class Owners’ Association (MCCOA) recently wrote a letter to the government reminding them to take action on such coaching institutions, where students are charged in lakhs and provided integrated courses in colleges.

The education department has also been asked to monitor if the directions are adhered by the colleges and take action of de-recognition on those colleges that are not following the instructions.