Outvoted after netas AWOL, BJP brings in biometric attendance

Mumbai: Allegedly embarrassed at being initially outvoted by the opposition in the BMC House last month over clearing a proposal to hand over a private plot in Wadala for a housing redevelopment project because a majority of its corporators were absent, BJP has introduced a compulsory biometric attendance system at its party office in the civic body.

All party corporators have to log their attendance into the machine installed outside the office when they arrive for meetings in BMC. Party corporator Makarand Narwekar has now even asked mayor Ritu Tawde to have a similar mechanism in place for all corporators.

Ganesh Khankar, BJP’s group leader in BMC, however, claimed that there was no correlation between the biometric system and the voting. He said the system came into effect on April 28, a day before the proposal was tabled in the House for the first time, “to instill discipline among corporators”. The proposal was later approved on May 8 when the governing alliance could muster enough numbers.

“The corporators are expected to mark their presence at the office and can then attend committee meetings or carry out other work across the BMC headquarters. At the end of each day, we receive a record of all corporators who visited the headquarters,” said Khankar.

He said BJP is also keen on introducing a system followed at Mantralaya where details of visitors, the officials they meet and the purpose of their visit are formally recorded.

In his letter to the mayor, Narwekar said a biometric attendance system for all corporators would significantly enhance transparency, accountability and efficiency in proceedings. “[BJP’s] initiative has ensured accurate attendance tracking and reinforced discipline among corporators. Drawing inspiration from this, it would be prudent to extend a similar system to the general body meetings,” he said. Narwekar said the measure would encourage punctuality and active participation among corporators, while also strengthening public trust through transparent governance. “In an era where citizens expect higher standards of accountability from elected representatives, this step would demonstrate our commitment to responsible administration.”

Education committee chairperson Rajeshree Shirwadkar from BJP welcomed the system. “It is a good initiative. All BJP corporators are ensuring that their attendance is marked through the biometric system.”