The State Health Department, which recently rolled out a mobile-based, geo-fenced, real-time attendance system for its employees, is now moving to link attendance records with staff salaries, including those of doctors.Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao said all department staff — from hospitals to the commissionerate and allied offices — must mark their attendance using their mobile phones.“The system records the exact location from which an employee logs in. With 95% of our permanent staff now registered, we are able to monitor real-time attendance of over 85% of employees. The next step is to link this data with salary disbursement. Salaries of those whose attendance is not satisfactory will be proportionately cut,” the Minister told presspersons on Monday.Principal Secretary, Health, Harsh Gupta said the new system left “no room for foul play.” The Aadhaar-linked system used face authentication and location-matching features.“In case of any suspicion, we will send random alerts to staff, including doctors. They must record their attendance from their workplace within five minutes,” Mr. Gupta explained.The Health Department has around 70,000 employees, including doctors and paramedical staff, of whom about 30,000 are permanent.“Ours is the first department in the State to implement such a system, and several others are now following suit. Nearly all permanent employees have already registered, and the remaining will soon be brought under the system,” Mr. Gupta added..Published - November 10, 2025 09:24 pm IST