West Bengal Govt introduces software to keep track of employees working from home amid COVID-19

The West Bengal government has come up with a software to monitor the performance of its employees working from home amid the COVID-19 scenario, a senior official said on Monday.

The state's department of finance is using the software on an experimental basis, he said. "If the results are satisfactory, we will put this to use in other departments," the official said.

State government employees should not violate office hours "thinking that it will get unnoticed because he/she is at home", he added.

"The employees have to log in to the software, enabling the department concerned to monitor their performance and office hours. We must ensure that work is not hampered because they are at home," the official said.

The West Bengal government had last week said only asymptomatic employees shall be allowed to attend office on rotation basis.

"Anyone with symptoms of mild fever, cough and cold need not attend office, and officers and staff residing in the containment zones shall not come to office. He/she will work from home till the area is declared as a Clear Area (category C)...," it had said, issuing a set of guidelines.

The state government has also discouraged face-to-face meetings and said officers should communicate via intercom, mobile phone and video-conferencing.