YDA Balochistan Rejects Linking Trainee Doctors’ Stipends to Faulty AI Attendance App
QUETTA: The Young Doctors Association (YDA) Balochistan has categorically rejected a controversial system that links postgraduate trainees’ attendance and monthly stipends to an artificial intelligence (AI)-based attendance application, describing the app as unreliable, ineffective and vulnerable to cybersecurity risks.
In a statement, the association said making the payment of stipends to postgraduate trainees (PGs) conditional on attendance recorded through a technically flawed application was unacceptable, particularly for doctors who work day and night to provide healthcare services in hospitals.
Central office-bearers of YDA Balochistan, accompanied by postgraduate trainees, attended an important meeting organised by the Postgraduate Medical Institute (PGMI) to discuss the AI attendance system. The dean of PGMI and the technical team of the private company that developed the application were also present.
During the meeting, the YDA delegation presented detailed concerns about the application’s performance and technical reliability to the PGMI dean and the software company’s representatives.
According to the association, the issues included inaccurate and unreliable location recording, cybersecurity vulnerabilities, potential hacking risks, malfunctioning facial recognition and an extremely limited check-in window for doctors arriving at and leaving their duties.
The association said the delegation presented evidence of these technical shortcomings. However, it alleged that the technical team designated by PGMI failed to provide clear, satisfactory or practical explanations addressing the concerns raised by the postgraduate trainees.
YDA Raises Serious Questions Over App Reliability
YDA Balochistan expressed concern that the failure to address fundamental problems involving location tracking, facial recognition, cybersecurity and check-in timings had raised serious questions about the transparency, effectiveness and reliability of the entire attendance system.
The association maintained that linking postgraduate trainees’ attendance records and their stipends—a basic financial entitlement—to an unreliable and potentially insecure application was unjustifiable.
It stressed that doctors working long hours in hospitals should not face financial penalties because of technical failures in an attendance system.
Government Urged to Resolve Technical Issues Before Implementation
YDA Balochistan called on the provincial government and relevant authorities to immediately resolve all technical, security and administrative shortcomings in the AI application.
It also demanded that the concerns raised by postgraduate trainees be addressed through practical measures and satisfactory solutions before the authorities consider implementing any new attendance mechanism.
The association reiterated its opposition to making stipend payments conditional on the use of the existing application until the identified problems had been properly resolved.
