Pramesh S Jain
The state Police Department has made it mandatory for all police officers and personnel to register on the government’s ‘Karthavya’ attendance application and record their attendance every day, with senior officers directed to closely monitor compliance.
In an order dated August 19,Director General and Inspector General of Police M.A.Saleem instructed unit heads and Drawing and Disbursing Officers (DDOs) to ensure that every police official under their jurisdiction is onboarded onto the Karnataka Automated Attendance Management System (KAAMS) and regularly marks attendance.
The move is aimed at improving punctuality, accountability and monitoring of police personnel deployed on field duties.
The department has clarified that the nature of police work,which often requires personnel to remain outside police stations and offices,will not be an obstacle to attendance marking.
The Karthavya app has been equipped with provisions such as ‘On Other Duty’ (OOD) and a movement register, allowing personnel engaged in beat duty,serving summons,crime investigation and other official assignments outside their offices to record their attendance along with the purpose of their deployment.
Personnel have been directed to check in when reporting for duty and check out when completing duty.
Those working outside their stations or offices must use the OOD option, with the concerned superior officer required to verify the entry.
The order noted that despite repeated instructions, some police personnel have still not registered on the application,while some who have registered are not regularly recording their attendance.
The government has taken the issue seriously and has directed that there should be no further lapses or delays.
Unit heads have been asked to personally monitor implementation and prepare details of two categories of personnel—those who have not registered on Karthavya and those who are registered but fail to regularly mark attendance.
The department has also warned that personnel who fail to mark attendance without a valid reason could be treated as unauthorisedly absent and face disciplinary action under the applicable rules.
Speaking about the initiative,Saleem said the objective was to ensure punctuality and enable senior officers to monitor the presence and availability of police personnel at the ground level.
“Many police officials start their work early and some are on ground zero,making it difficult to mark attendance.
With the modification in the app,everyone can now log in and log out from wherever they are with a click,marking their presence and availability,” he said.
The DGP has directed all units to accord “MOST URGENT” priority to the implementation and submit unit-wise compliance reports to the headquarters.
Police personnel had earlier faced difficulties using the app as their working hours often do not follow fixed office timings.
In several cases,punching in and out at times that did not correspond with the system’s designated working hours reportedly resulted in personnel being marked absent.
Due to these technical and operational issues,many police personnel stopped using the attendance system, while some did not opt for it in the first place.
Following complaints from the field-level personnel, the attendance application has now been modified to suit the working patterns and timings of the police force.
With the changes in place,the head of the state police force has directed all police officials and personnel to compulsorily use the app and mark their attendance without fail.
