Thiruvananthapuram: Chief secretary VP Joy has given a final ultimatum to the state Secretariat to implement the electronic attendance system. Secretariat and offices of department heads in collectorates will have the ‘punch in’ system from January 1, 2023, onwards.

The proposal could not be implemented in earlier instances when it was mooted. The system was installed in the Secretariat in 2018. However, it has not been mandatory until now.

Attendance will be synced with the Service and Payroll Administrative Repository for Kerala (Spark). A system of access control is also proposed to identify officers leaving the office premises after signing in.