No more will there be proxies if you bunk the House in session. The government is making arrangements to catch you by your fingertips.
State legislature will start using the biometric system in the Budget Session to record attendance of members in both Houses
Watch out ministers, MLAs and MLCs. No more will there be proxies if you bunk the House in session. The government is making arrangements to catch you by your fingertips.
Come Budget Session in March, the state legislature will start using the biometric system to record attendance of members in both Houses. Blame it on BJP MLC Navnath Avhad, who was allegedly found guilty of signing the attendance register without attending the sessions.
All that is required to make the new system work, is to raise a finger. Members of both Houses will have to hold a finger in front of the gadget to get their attendance registered. Every single MLA and MLC will have images of two of his/her fingertips - taken in advance by the administration - stored in the biometric system bank.
The gadget will read the image of the fingertip a member places before it while entering, and match it with the images in the bank to mark that particular member present. Every member can pick any two of his/her fingers for the registration process, and will have to use any one of them for recording attendance.
Four days ago, the administration made arrangements for an IT company to demonstrate how the system works.
The procedure of inviting expression of interest is expected to begin soon. “Once the bidding is over, we will introduce the system in the Budget Session, slated for March next year. The biometric system is a convenient option, and I don’t think any member will have objection to it,” said Babasaheb Kupekar, speaker of the legislative assembly.
The legislature will introduce the same system for its 700 employees, who currently use the muster to register attendance manually.
“Four machines in the assembly and two in council will be installed, along with four more for employees of the legislature. An equal number of machines will be installed in the Nagpur legislature. With the machines priced at Rs40,000 each, the project is likely to cost us somewhere around Rs 10 lakh,” said an official from the legislature. Currently, members of both houses sign their names in attendance registers.
Avhad’s signature was found on these registers, although he had not been attending the House for the past three years. BJP state secretary and member of Upper House Vinod Gawde said, “If the system is to keep up with the sanctity of the House, we are all for it. But if it is in accordance with non-confidence, we will oppose it. We will have to check the motive.”
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