Reform or Surveillance? NMC's Facial-recognition Attendance Rule faces severe backlash from medical faculties

New Delhi: The newly introduced face-based Aadhaar authentication system for marking attendance of medical college faculty and staff has met with strong opposition from the members of the medical fraternity.

Aiming to improve user-friendliness and enhance accuracy in attendance marking, the National Medical Commission (NMC) recently announced that all medical colleges and institutes would transition to a face-based Aadhaar authentication system via the NMC AEBAS platform. The Commission mentioned that this transition would commence on May 1, 2025.

Currently, the faculty and staff at all the private/government medical colleges across the country mark their attendance through the Aadhar Enabled Biometric Attendance System. Apart from announcing the transition from AEBAS to face-based attendance marking, NMC also mentioned in its recent notice that the medical colleges were required to share their GPS coordinates of specific attendance zones within their campus with NMC. These coordinates, covering a 100-meter radius each, will enable geofenced attendance marking via mobile phones. The information must be submitted with the official signature and stamp of the college dean or principal.

Also Read: NMC implements Face-Based Aadhaar Attendance in Medical Colleges

However, this move has been criticised by the medical college faculty associations, who cited privacy violations as one of the major reasons for their objection. A section of the faculty, however, has argued it's a necessary check against widespread malpractice.

Faculty groups including the Medical Teachers Association of Bundelkhand Medical College, Sagar (Madhya Pradesh), termed this new development as a "digital leash" and "moral policing".

Writing to the NMC on April 19, the association mentioned, "Forcing faculty members to share their real-time location is not only unjustified but also offensive. We are professionals, not subjects of suspicion… The NMC is not a moral policing agency."

In the letter, the association called the system an "unacceptable invasion of privacy" and added that instead of solving actual issues like "unchecked mushrooming of medical colleges without adequate faculty or infrastructure", the Commission is busy "micromanaging under the guise of regulation".

Commenting on the matter, the Association President Prof Dr. Sarvesh Jain called the GPS tracking "completely unacceptable" and told Edex Live, "If everyone is right, then Pegasus should be installed on all our devices. This is not about right or wrong, it’s about privacy, which is a Constitutional right. I may have ‘n’ number of secrets, and as long as I’m within the law, they’re my business."

Alleging that NMC is turning into a government instrument, Dr. Jain further added, "Earlier, we had the Medical Council of India (MCI), which was independent. Today, NMC is a body formed and appointed by the government, and is now acting like a surveillance agency."

Telangana Government Doctors Association (TGDA) has also objected to NMC's decision of implementing face-based attendance marking system and wrote to the Chairman of NMC and the Telangana Health Secretary in this regard. The Hindu has reported that in the letter, the association raised concerns about privacy, technical challenges and the impact on doctors' professional autonomoy

The association said, "While we fully support accountability and transparency in public service, the mandatory use of facial recognition linked to Aadhaar raises serious concerns about data protection and privacy, especially in the absence of a comprehensive data protection law."

The association highlighted operational issues and pointed to the recurring technical glitches ranging from poor internet connectivity and server downtimes to errors in facial recognition. Doctors said that these problems have already resulted in unjust penalties and disruptions, adding to the stress of an already demanding profession.

Critising the system's rigid structure, the association argued that it fails to reflect the nature of government medical duties, often including night shifts, emergency services and fieldwork.

"There are already robust administrative mechanisms in place to monitor attendance and performance. Imposing an additional, invasive layer is both redundant and counterproductive," stated the letter.

Accordingly, TGDA urged the authorities to reconsider the mandatory rollout of the system and called foe a consultative approach involving medical professionals. They said, "Sweeping changes such as these should be introduced only after discussions with relevant stakeholders."

However, a section of the medical college faculties has supported the NMC decision. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), The MSc Medicine Association (TMMA) referred to the incident in Andhra Pradesh, where 232 health staff were caught tampering with the Facial Recognition Attendance System.

"By altering date and time settings in their iPhones, the staff including Doctors (Civil Assistant Surgeons, Assistant Professors, Consultants) Staff Nurses and Paramedical staff faked login and to falsely mark attendance. FRS (Facial Recognition System) was introduced to address the manipulation in biometric attendance by using silicone fingerprint. However, even FRS also proved to be vulnerable at the hands of corrupt and criminal employees. Allegedly the employee unions are lobbying to shield the staff involved," the association mentioned in the X post.

Calling for a full-fledged implementation of Face based biometric attendance system for faculties in medical colleges, the association further added, "As NMC recently issued a notice with regard to implementation of a similar Face based biometric attendance system for faculties in medical colleges, we already are seeing certain associations opposing the move calling it invasion into privacy and terming it moral policing. At this instance, we request the Honorable Health Minister Shri @JPNadda Ji and the Honorable Secretary @NMC_BHARAT to implement the system in a full-fledged manner in the interest of the Nation and come fully prepared for all kinds of challenges and oppositions as mentioned in the post."

Speaking to Edex Live, TMMA President Dr. Shashank Kambali mentioned that such stringent reforms are essential and added, "Earlier, teachers used silicone fingerprints to bypass biometric systems. Now, some are tampering with the facial recognition system itself. Everyone from the ministry to medical colleges knows that in many departments, only one or two out of 10 faculty members are actually present, yet records show 100% attendance."

However, Dr. Kambali also acknowledged the concerns raised by faculty members and added, "I’m not outrightly denying the teachers’ opposition. But if the government introduces such systems, they must also provide transparency, explain how it works, address fears, and take feedback. It should not just be enforced top-down."

He also mentioned that the purpose for introducing such a tech-based reforms will be defeated if it is not backed by regular inspections, proper monitoring and responsive grievance mechanisms.

Also Read: NMC to roll out face-based Aadhaar attendance in Medical Colleges from May 1