Through the Astram app, officials can monitor on-duty personnel at designated junctions anytime.
Credit: DH File Photo
Bengaluru: The Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has deployed a sophisticated, geo-tagging e-attendance feature within its existing Astram mobile application to enhance on-spot presence and accountability of its police personnel across the city's network of junctions.
This move replaces older, less reliable biometric systems with a real-time, AI-driven verification mechanism linked directly to a personnel's Aadhaar identity.
The system mandates that personnel use their smartphones to clock in for their shifts. The process requires them to take a time stamped, geo-tagged selfie that is instantly cross referenced with their Aadhaar photograph using an AI tool, ensuring both unique identity and precise location.
The critical enforcement element is geofencing. This feature ensures the check-in is valid only if the officer is physically present within a tight, designated radius of 50 square meters of their assigned junctions.
Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), pointed to DH the need for the technological addition. "The problem is we have over 1,000 junctions and two shifts, from 7 am to 2 pm and 2 pm to 10 pm. There was no mechanism to effectively monitor to confirm if the assigned personnel were on the spot,” Reddy told DH.
The officer confirmed the Astram feature allows the department to monitor movement of the personnel within their assigned junction at any given time.
The system enforces strict reporting timelines: For the morning shift, the reporting window is 7 am to 7.15 am. Personnel reporting between 7.15 am and 7.30 am is marked as late, while any check-in after 7.30 am results in an automatic absence mark.
The traffic police chief says the results of the system are evident. With an average of 800 to 1,000 junction points assigned daily, the implementation of e-attendance has curbed habitual absenteeism, which had been a persistent operational issue and complaint faced by the BTP.
The department now registers a significantly lower figure, receiving only one to three absentees per day. Also, the AI-powered monitoring provides real-time alerts to department heads regarding any pattern of late arrivals or early departures, ensuring transparency and reducing malpractices on the ground.