The Government of Kerala is all set to link SPARK, short for Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala, to the biometric punching attendance system across all government offices.
The move is expected to ensure punctuality and regular attendance amongst the government employees, who will face a pay cut or loss of leave if they do not mark their attendance within the allotted time slots for entering and leaving the office.
This measure will bring about transparency in the attendance and more regularity and stability in terms of work hours.
It had been observed that many employees who failed to report for work on time or left much earlier than the stipulated office hours, had led to a lot of work remaining pending and unnecessary delays in services and processes in government departments.
It is hoped that the linking of SPARK to the attendance system will create more discipline.
Those who are used to reporting late for work or leave work at their own free will before completion of work hours, will now become more disciplined. The salaries of such defaulters, or latecomers will automatically be cut. That means, they will receive reduced salary on the first of the month.
Meanwhile, the installation of the Access Control System at the Secretariat is almost complete. It will also be eventually linked to SPARK. Till then, employees will continue to receive their salaries without cuts even if they are irregular or late for work. However, employees have been told that if they do not mark their attendance during the stipulated time slots, they will be considered to be on leave.
