BBMP to revamp attendance system after Upa Lokayukta raid reveals misuse of authority

BENGALURU: Following the recent incident where two officials of the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) were suspended for misusing authority after the Upa Lokayukta raided the BBMP South Zone office, the civic body has decided to revamp its attendance system.

After the incident where a man was found to be working in place of his mother, the BBMP is planning to introduce a mobile app to track the attendance of its employees. The app will enable the the civic body to take strict action against employees who are absent or negligent in their duties.

An FIR has been filed against Kavitha, a second division assistant (SDA), and Sujatha, an Assistant Revenue Officer (ARO), who were working at the South End Circle office. They have been accused of dereliction of duty and leaking confidential government information.

Kavitha had given the office login ID and password to her son Naveen and sent him to work in her place. An FIR was filed at the Siddapura police station against Naveen and he was arrested.

The incident came to light during a surprise inspection by Upa Lokayukta Justice (retd) B Veerappa at the BBMP’s South Zone office last week. The officials found several irregularities and, as a result, the BBMP administration has suspended Kavitha and Sujatha. The Lokayukta has also filed a complaint against the two officials.

BBMP chief commissioner Tushar Giri Nath said, “Whatever happened during the Lokayukta raid was not right; it’s regrettable. There is already an app-based attendance system called LogSafe. This is a private company and there was fear of leakage of data and private information, there also was a ring-fencing issue. It was started for teachers and is ongoing. But we will decide whether we should adopt the LogSafe app or approach the e-governance department to track the attendance of BBMP employees”.