Hyderabad: The National Medical Commission (NMC) has introduced a new system to track attendance in medical colleges. Starting May 1, faculty members will no longer use fingerprint machines. Instead, they will use face-based Aadhaar authentication through a mobile app. The NMC also wants to use GPS tracking to make sure teachers are present at the college and not marking attendance from outside.
Previously, medical colleges used Aadhaar-enabled biometric attendance devices. Now, teachers must install a new app on their phones to scan their face and confirm their presence. Colleges are also asked to share GPS coordinates of important locations on campus. The app will only allow attendance to be marked within 100 meters of these spots.
However, many government doctors are unhappy with this plan. The Telangana Teaching Government Doctors Association (TTGDA) is asking for the proposal to be withdrawn. Dr. Kiran Madala, the association’s Secretary General, said that while the NMC mentioned face-based attendance, it never officially said geo-tagging would be used. He said geo-tagging raises privacy concerns and has not been properly discussed or approved in India.
Dr. Kiran also said the NMC should focus on more important issues affecting medical teachers. These include transfer policies, allowances for those working in smaller colleges, recruitment, and improving college infrastructure. He believes that focusing only on attendance reforms, while ignoring these bigger problems, is discouraging for teachers.
He added that the dedication of government teaching doctors helped establish 25 new medical colleges in just three years. He urged the government and health officials to prioritize solving these long-standing issues instead of introducing changes that could lower the morale of medical educators.
