SPPU urges staff to use facial recognition for attendance

On Thursday, the management of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) issued a notification urging its staff to begin using facial recognition to record biometric attendance in place of fingerprint scanners. The step came as most offices have started asking their workers not to use fingerprints to record attendance on account of the coronavirus pandemic. The SPPU management also cancelled a programme which was earlier scheduled to take place from March 13-15, due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Sant Tukaram Mahotsav, a three-day event, was slated to be held in association with the Bhandarkar Institute. There were events to be organised such as kirtan, photo exhibition, seminars and talks.  

As a preventive measure, the SPPU administration has indefinitely postponed the event. Most of the public events have been cancelled by the university. Moreover, three other events were annulled last weekend. However, the administration is yet to take a call on its Senate meeting, which is slated to take place on March 14. Associates of the senate have written to Vice-Chancellor Nitin Karmalkar, requesting him to shelve the meeting. However, the vice-chancellor said the administration was yet to take a decision on the matter.

Vice-chancellor Nitin Karmalkar informed that it was a significant meeting where the budget was also to be deliberated. He also asserted that the meeting was not really a get-together. Moreover, they would be making a decision based on the prevailing situation and the instruction of health specialists.

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