Digital attendance mandate stirs discontent in police force

CH NEWS, BENGALURU The Karnataka State Police Department’s recent directive making the digital attendance tracking application 'Karthavya' (KAAMS) mandatory for all personnel has triggered widespread debate and operational concern within the ranks. While the state government champions the software as a revolutionary transparency initiative to streamline administration across departments, law enforcement personnel argue that the application’s rigid structure fails to accommodate the unpredictable, 24/7 realities of police work. Following a circular issued by the State Police Headquarters directing unit heads to ensure universal registration and daily login-logout compliance, officers across various divisions have voiced practical difficulties. Unlike conventional secretariat or civil departments with fixed office hours, police duties frequently involve emergency responses, prolonged festival and protest security bandobasts, and cross-district or interstate travel for criminal investigations. Personnel point out that mandatory check-ins and check-outs often clash with active field operations, where exceeding an eight-hour shift is standard and logging out immediately is impossible. Furthermore, field officers have expressed frustration over geo-fencing restrictions and procedural bottlenecks involving 'On Other Duty' (OOD) permissions. Constables deployed for traffic management or accident site investigations note that constantly seeking digital approval for multiple field-movement entries creates unnecessary administrative friction. There are also lingering anxieties regarding potential salary deductions linked to Human Resource Management System (HRMS) automated integration if technical glitches or operational emergencies delay attendance marking. Addressing these concerns, senior administrative leadership, including Sridhar T., DIGP (Administration), emphasized that the application has already undergone several rounds of customization with the e-Governance Department to make it police-friendly. Officials clarified that the app features dedicated options such as 'field duty' and 'court duty' to handle off-station movements, and that attendance is not strictly bound to fixed office boundaries. As the department works to iron out initial technical hurdles, authorities maintain that the digital transition is vital for modernizing accountability, even as field personnel continue to push for guidelines better tailored to operational realities.