The Times of India 07.08.2012
Corporation’s radio tagging project to cover other departments too
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The service of radio frequency identification system (RFID) of the city corporation, which was originally intended to monitor waste collection in households, may now be used by KSEB, KWA or police department.
As per the original project, the cleanwell workers in the city were to
be equipped with readers with the help of which the corporation would be
able to monitor their attendance at different homes every day. However
the project failed to take off once the waste collection came to a halt
in the city following the closure of garbage treatment plant at Vilappilsala
in December 2011.The corporation has almost completed the installation
of RFID tags in about two lakh households in various wards.
The
Information technology department of the corporation is now preparing a
new project which will open up the benefits of RFID tags to other
departments. "We will go ahead with the project even though its main
objective has to be revised. KSEB, KWA or police can avail of the
benefits of RFID tags now. For instance, the departments can procure
their readers at a very cheap rate and monitor their employees when they
attend to the grievances of the public," said an IT official.
Deputy mayor G Happy Kumar
said that the project was diverted in such a manner that any department
that provides essential services to the city residents could make use
of it. "The corporation plans to tie-up with other departments so that
the ambit of the entire project can be widened. Since the entire cost is
being met by the corporation the other departments will be free of any
kind of financial burden," he said.
The corporation is also
keen on preparing a data base, which could be maintained in such a
manner that the police department can have immediate access to the
information regarding the details of residents in a particular household
within the city limit. "A central server will soon be installed at the
corporation office. We will feed the server with data regarding the
essential details of residents in a household. A bylaw will be
introduced by means of which those who rent out their houses to tenants
will have to furnish the details in the corporation office, every time
the owner lends the house to a new occupant," the official explained.
The Rs 1.25-crore project is expected to play a key role in assisting
the police with regard to keeping a tab on criminals who occupy houses
in the city. "Once the system is ready, the city police can have access
to the corporation server and they can avail of certain basic
information on the occupant of a particular house," added the official.
