Mumbai: Biometric attendance suspended at Lower Parel workshop of Western Railway

The biometric machines at the entrance of the Lower Parel workshop

The Lower Parel workshop of the Western Railway on Thursday announced a temporary suspension of biometric attendance-cum-access control. The access control had been discontinued earlier to take care of long queues outside the workshop.

The biometric attendance has also been put on hold temporarily till the system and the software are modified as per the observations of the last three days. mid-day had highlighted the issue two days ago.

"The process is going well at Central Railway Loco Workshop, Parel, and other places and is a part of the railway work culture. We have, as of now, suspended the process and are working on it to improve the speed and other elements," a WR official said.

A long queue at the Lower Parel workshop earlier

Western Railway chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur confirmed the development.

Railway employees say the queues are because of the biometric element in the punch machine which mandates every employee to get physically verified by facial recognition.

Residents and passers-by had expressed surprise that it had become a regular affair outside the workshop.

A railway employee, on the condition of anonymity, had said that while they welcomed the new process that ensures transparency and authentication, there was a need for improvisation as the queues got very long.

"Employees arriving at their workplace from far-off places like Ambernath, Kalyan, Virar and Vasai end up spending time in the queue. It is very taxing in such adverse conditions, especially on rainy days.

Also, the long queues were also leading to violations of Covid-19 protocols like social distancing etc," he had said.