Karnataka to roll out centralised facial recognition attendance system for PU college staff
Bengaluru: The Director for School Education and Literacy (Pre-University) will reportedly be introducing a facial recognition system to record the attendance of lecturers and principals in PU colleges across Karnataka from December 2025.
At present, a biometric system is used to track the attendance of lecturers in colleges, but it operates on a decentralised basis. Attendance is recorded individually at each college, rather than being centrally managed.
“The current facial recognition system is a centralised one which means the director of PU department can access and keep a tab on the attendance of lecturers and principals. An app called Karnataka Attendance Management System (KAMS) has to be downloaded by lecturers, principals and clerical staff of a college,” The New Indian Express quoted an official from the Department of Pre-University Education as saying.
The official explained the process that when lecturers arrive at college, they need to log in, take a picture that captures the address or geotag of the college location, and upload it to KAMS. For lecturers on deputation to two different colleges, they must upload a picture each time they visit either college on their assigned days.
This isn't the first time the facial recognition system has been introduced in colleges. Earlier this year, the system was tested on a pilot basis in one of the PU government colleges in Gadag, where it produced positive results, added the report.
The official noted that the centralised system eliminates the hassle of spending money on the maintenance of biometric systems. Since each college in the state has purchased its system from different vendors, the vendors charge whatever they wish, and when the machines break down, they often fail to address complaints, particularly in rural areas, the official added.
Karnataka has approximately 2,000 government and aided PU colleges, employing around 7,627 lecturers. The introduction of the facial recognition system was also announced in the State Budget for 2025–26.
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Accept Congress decision appointing V D Satheesan as Kerala CM: K C Venugopal
Thiruvananthapuram/New Delhi (PTI): Congress general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal on Thursday accepted the party decision to select V D Satheesan as the chief minister of Kerala and congratulated him.
Speaking to reporters in New Delhi, Venugopal, who was one of the three persons being considered for the post, said he will provide all support to the CM and the UDF government in Kerala.
The decision comes more than 10 days after the results of the April Assembly polls in Kerala were declared.
The Congress-led UDF secured a more than two-thirds majority in the Kerala Assembly elections, but the party has been unable to decide its chief ministerial face due to lobbying by different camps and protests by workers at the ground level.
Besides, Satheesan and Venugopal, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala was also in the race for the CM post.
