The Karnataka Health Department has made night attendance through the Kartavya app mandatory for doctors and other staff at taluk hospitals and primary health centres, aiming to ensure that personnel remain available at their designated headquarters after working hours.
According to a department circular reported by Prajavani on November 12, doctors must record their night attendance every day after 9 pm through the app. The attendance must be recorded within the geographical limits of the city, town or village where their headquarters are located.
The directive also covers nursing officers, pharmacy officers, laboratory technicians and other staff working at the facilities. They have been instructed to reside at their headquarters and mark their attendance through the app after 9 pm.
The circular provides exemptions for staff who have approved leave, are performing duties outside their headquarters with appropriate permission, or have been authorised to leave their headquarters. The exemptions are intended to cover officially approved absences rather than routine non-availability.
District-level and facility-level administrative officers will be responsible for ensuring compliance. Drawing and disbursing officers and taluk health officers have been directed to verify that the attendance requirement is being followed.
The move places digital attendance at the centre of the department’s effort to monitor after-hours availability at public health facilities. For residents who depend on taluk hospitals and primary health centres outside regular daytime hours, the directive concerns whether designated medical and support staff are present within the local service area when emergency or urgent care is needed.
The circular does not specify in the reported material the penalties for failing to record attendance, the process for challenging an incorrect location record, or the technology and administrative arrangements for reviewing the app data. It establishes the 9 pm attendance requirement and assigns verification responsibility to the relevant health administrators.
