Karnataka’s AI-based attendance system now tracks 1.3 lakh government employees

• Karnataka's Kartavya AI tracks attendance for 1.3 lakh government employees.
• Kartavya uses facial recognition, geofencing, and Aadhaar eKYC for attendance.
• System won an award for best use of biometric and facial recognition technology

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Karnataka’s artificial intelligence-based attendance system, Kartavya-also known as the Karnataka Advanced Attendance Management System (KAAMS)-is now tracking attendance for around 1.3 lakh government employees, marking a major milestone in the state’s push towards AI-enabled governance reforms.

Kartavya is Karnataka government’s unified, AI-driven attendance management platform, developed in-house by Centre for e-Governance (CeG) under Department of Personnel and Administrative Reforms (e-Governance). Designed to replace legacy biometric devices, mobile-first system is integrated with the state’s human resource management system and aims to improve transparency and accountability in workforce management.

Also, read: From tackling absenteeism to chatbots for grievances, Karnataka’s AI-ML Cell plots digital reform

How Kartavya works

Kartavya mobile application uses Aadhaar-based eKYC, AI-powered facial recognition with liveness detection and GIS-based geofencing. Employees mark attendance by clicking a selfie within a 100-metre radius of their designated workplace, enabling real-time, location-verified attendance.

Officials said the system has already been rolled out across the health and education departments and will be extended to other departments in a phased manner. “The platform reduces manual intervention while ensuring secure, verifiable attendance across departments,” a senior official said.

Adoption, impact and recognition

With 1.3 lakh employees already onboarded, officials said the scale of adoption reflects strong user acceptance and operational readiness, paving the way for a statewide rollout. The platform offers real-time visibility of attendance from Vidhana Soudha to field offices, while AI-based facial recognition and GIS validation help curb proxy attendance and data manipulation. The shift away from proprietary biometric hardware is also expected to reduce recurring costs and eliminate vendor lock-in.

Also, read: Karnataka to set up AI Centre of Excellence for public sector innovation in Bengaluru

Kartavya recently received the Award of Excellence at the Governance Now - Digital Transformation Summit & Awards 2025 in the category of ‘best use of biometric technology, identity, authentication and facial recognition systems’.

Broader AI-led governance initiatives

Kartavya is part of a wider suite of AI-driven public governance initiatives implemented by the Karnataka government. Apart from the attendance system, the state has rolled out a muzzle print initiative that uses a unique biometric identifier for cattle to ensure the rightful disbursement of benefits to farmers.

The government has also implemented an AI-based student attendance system covering over 50 lakh school students across the state. In addition, Saaramsha, an AI-powered information extraction tool currently under pilot, is being used to summarise government orders, notifications and circulars to enable faster and more informed decision-making within departments.