BMS opposes face recognition system introduced by Centre for Anganwadi workers' attendance

New Delhi: The RSS-affiliated trade union, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has expressed its apprehensions about the Face Recognition System (FRS) introduced by the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development for marking the attendance of Anganwadi workers, and demanded that the government withdraw the policy.

The face recognition system is utilised in the Integrated Child Development Services scheme, and anganwadi workers need to register their attendance through it. Anganwadi workers have been complaining about the difficulties of connecting to it and other issues repeatedly. “

The FRS has presented numerous difficulties for Aanganwadi Workers nationwide due to several practical problems at the implementation level. It has become another tool for harassing Aanganwadi Workers by District-level officials. The BMS demanded that the government withdraw this lopsided policy,” a communication from BMS read.

The decision was taken by the Central Executive Council of the BMS, in its 159th meeting, which was held from August 22 to 24 in Bhopal. During the meeting, the trade body’s decision making team had adopted three resolutions.

It demanded that the Central Government implement the Wage Code and Social Security Code immediately and that the Government of India convene the Indian Labour Conference (ILC), the highest tripartite body of the Labour Ministry, at the earliest date. “The BMS is opposing many clauses that are against Workers’ interests in the Industrial Relations Code and also the Occupational Safety & Health and Working Conditions Code. Hence, it is opposing these two codes. BMS requests the Government of India to implement the Labour Codes in a phased manner, taking the tripartite partners into confidence. There should not be any haste in implementing all four Labour Codes,” it said. 

The trade body has also urged that the government convenes a meeting of the Indian Labour Conference, which has not met in over a decade; it last met in 2015. “After 2015, the world of work has undergone significant changes in multiple dimensions. Technology, Digital Infrastructure, and Digital transition have brought about many changes in Social life and the economic scenario. There is an urgency to discuss Labour issues in this context,” the BMS said.

In its meeting, the BMS has also applauded the Haryana Government’s decision to regularise contract workers under the Kaushal Vikas Yojana.