In an effort to prevent absenteeism in schools, the Koraput district administration has launched 'tele-monitoring', using a database of mobile numbers of all teachers.

On each working day, teachers of at least 20 randomly-selected schools would be called up to find out their whereabouts, District Collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said.

"There have been frequent complaints that teachers remain absent from schools and this programme aims at checking their non-attendance," he said.

Officials from the district headquarters would call these teachers on their mobile phone and ask questions on various school-related issues like number of teachers present, attendance of students and functioning of the mid-day meals.

The teacher would then be asked to give the phone to a student, who would be asked about facilities like lavatories, drinking water, hand-washing and attendance of teachers etc, Patil said.

The calls would be made between 10.30 am and 4 pm.

Official sources said the new programme would add teeth to the prevailing 'rapid monitoring system' in the district in which two officials randomly visit selected gram panchayats to find out if the schools and 'anganwadi' centres are open, if the people get essential commodities under PDS and work and wage under MGNREGA among other services.