BMC’s biometric ID plan stuck in limbo

Ongoing construction at HQs, lack of equipment and cards delay Rs 5-cr project

BMC's biometric ID plan stuck in limbo

Ongoing construction at HQs, lack of equipment and cards delay Rs 5-cr project

The fate of the BMC's ambitious Rs 5-crore project to install a biometric system at its headquarters, hospitals and other offices to keep tabs on truant staffers seems to be hanging in balance.

The BMC needs as many as 1,000 biometric machines for all its offices, but it has managed to buy only 300 so far

The project, which was approved three years ago by the then municipal commissioner Jairaj Phatak, has hit many hurdles.

According to BMC officials, the civic body has around 1.11 lakh employees, including 60,000 staffers at its headquarters. And, it is a time-consuming task to make biometric cards for all of them.

If making IDs is a cumbersome process, installing the equipment and making them functional is no cakewalk, says an official of the BMC's information technology department.

The BMC needs as many as 1,000 biometric machines for all its offices, but it has managed to buy only 300 so far. They have placed an order for the rest. Each machine costs around Rs 25,000, said the official.

The BMC has also not installed the available equipment because of ongoing renovation at its headquarters and lack of network, required for smooth functioning of the biometric system, at many of its offices.

Some of the machines, however, have been put up at the BMC headquarters and civic-run hospitals in the city. But they have not begun functioning yet.

Municipal Commissioner Subodh Kumar said, "I will look into the matter and check the current status."
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While BMC Standing Committee Chairperson Rahul Shewale said, "The system is functioning at Sion hospital and we had used it to investigate the recent baby theft.
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I will check where the systems have been installed and whether they are functioning."

1.11 lakh
Number of staff at the BMC, including around 60,000 employees at its CST headquarters

The Other Side
Yogesh Mahangde, deputy director, IT department said, "We have set up machines at Sion, KEM and Nair hospitals as well as at the headquarters. But, due to ongoing renovation, at the headquarters the networking work cannot be done. We are likely to start pilot tests at the hospitals soon." Deputy Municipal Commissioner, Prakash Patil (IT), said, "There were cards to be made with the thumb impression and other details of the staffers. Some of the IDs were made, but they developed some technical problems. So they need to be rectified. May be the next financial year the IDs will all start functioning."