Biometric attendance for government officials has been suspended amid rising cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 across the country, junior minister at the Prime Minister’s Office Jitendra Singh said on Monday.
“In view of the rise in Covid-19 cases, the biometric attendance for government officials and employees is being suspended with immediate effect, till further orders,” statement reads.
However, all the employees are required to mark their attendance in attendance registers to be maintained manually, an order issued by the Personnel Ministry said.
“As a precautionary measure, it has been decided to suspend the marking of biometric attendance in the Aadhaar-based biometric attendance system in all ministries/departments of the Government of India, including its attached/subordinate offices, with immediate effect till January 31, 2022,” it said.
Meanwhile, India reported 33,750 new Covid-19 cases and 123 deaths in the last 24 hours, informed the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Monday.
According to the ministry, the number of Omicron infections stands at 1,700 and it has spread to 23 states. Maharashtra is the worst-affected state with 510 cases, followed by Delhi with 351.
India’s daily positivity rate has risen to 3.84% and the weekly positivity rate has gone up to 1.68%. Maharashtra (510), Delhi ( 351), Kerala (156), Gujarat (136), Tamil Nadu (121), and Rajasthan (120) are among the top-6 worst affected regions from the Omicron variant of coronavirus. A total of 23 states and union territories have reported at least one case of Omicron. of the total 1,700 cases, 639 have been discharged.
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(With inputs from agencies)
