Sikkim biometric attendance will become mandatory for government employees from October 1, 2026, as the state government introduces the Aadhaar Enabled Biometric Attendance System (AEBAS). The system will initially operate at the State Headquarters and District Headquarters.
The move will bring attendance and leave records into a digital system linked with the government’s PRANALI platform. According to a Home Department circular, failure to record attendance can result in leave being marked and a corresponding salary deduction.
Sikkim biometric attendance starts October 1
The new system has been developed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC) and linked to employees’ Aadhaar or UID details. It will allow government staff to register attendance through smartphones from designated locations within the vicinity of their workplaces.
The circular makes registration on AEBAS mandatory for both regular and temporary government employees. Therefore, staff covered by the order will have to use the digital system to record their daily attendance from October 1.
The initial implementation will cover State and District Headquarters. The government plans to expand the attendance monitoring system across the state after the first phase.
How the Aadhaar-linked system will work
Under Sikkim biometric attendance, the system will generate monthly attendance reports for individual employees. Department-appointed nodal officers will then examine attendance, leave and absence records.
They will verify whether an absence was authorised or connected to permissible leave or official duty. After these factors are considered, any remaining absence will be treated as the employee’s net absence.
The process will then connect with PRANALI, the state government’s digital platform for salary and related administrative processes. This integration is intended to link verified attendance information with leave and payroll procedures.
Salary deduction linked to unmarked attendance
For regular employees, failure to record attendance through AEBAS will be treated as Extraordinary Leave under the stated procedure. The corresponding salary deduction will be processed automatically through PRANALI from the salary due in the following month.
However, the system provides for verification before unauthorised absence is finalised. Nodal officers will first account for approved leave and official duties while preparing the monthly attendance record.
For temporary employees, failure to record attendance will be treated as Leave Without Pay, with salary or wage deductions processed under the applicable procedure.
Digital process to track employee absence
The circular sets out a further digital process for handling net absence. After the seventh day of the following month, PRANALI will retrieve net absence figures through NIC’s Net Absence Consolidation APIs.
Drawing and Disbursing Officers will then be able to generate and digitally sign orders for Extraordinary Leave or Leave Without Pay where an employee has a non-zero net absence.
The orders will be sent to the relevant personnel sections for updating leave accounts and service books. For Group A and Group B officers, the orders will also be forwarded to the Department of Personnel.
Departments asked to appoint nodal officers
The Sikkim government has directed Secretaries and Heads of Departments to appoint nodal officers for implementing AEBAS. These officers must be at least of Additional Secretary rank or equivalent.
NIC will provide hands-on training to the designated officials so they can operate the system and oversee attendance records within their departments.
The government has already taken steps toward AEBAS implementation in some departments. The Rural Management and Development Department, for instance, listed an order concerning the nomination of an AEBAS nodal officer in April 2026.
Sikkim expands technology-based administration
The October 1 rollout places attendance management within Sikkim’s broader shift toward digital administration. AEBAS is designed to create electronic attendance records and connect them with related administrative processes.
The system will therefore change how government departments record, verify and process employee attendance. At the same time, the circular makes clear that authorised leave and official duty will be considered before remaining absence is treated as net absence.
As Sikkim biometric attendance begins at State and District Headquarters, government employees will have to complete registration and follow the prescribed digital attendance process. The system is expected to expand statewide after the initial rollout.
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