Rajesh's Gate Guard Roster

One page a resident can open at midnight to see which guard is standing at the gate and what time that shift ends.

Who this is for

Rajesh Kulkarni is secretary of a 96-flat society in Kothrud, Pune. Four guards from an agency cover the main gate across three shifts, and the agency swaps people without telling anyone. At 11.40 at night a resident from the fourth floor rings him because a courier is waiting at the gate and the guard on duty is new and will not open. Rajesh does not know who is on duty either.

How the job is done today

A duty chart printed in April is taped inside the guard cabin, sun-faded, two names crossed out in ballpoint. The society WhatsApp group has 96 residents, and about twice a week somebody types who is on the gate now. Rajesh answers, but only after ringing the agency supervisor, who picks up when convenient. When a guard takes leave, the replacement's name arrives in a voice note that Rajesh cannot find again a week later. Nobody at the gate can say when their own shift ends without pulling the paper register out of the cabin drawer.

The screens, in order

1. Gate Now — The one page a resident opens to see who is standing at the main gate right now and until what time.
2. Later Today — A single tap away, for the resident expecting a delivery at nine at night who wants to know who will be there then.
3. Secretary Sign In — A plain sign-in that only Rajesh uses, kept off the public page entirely so residents never meet it.
4. This Week's Shifts — Where Rajesh sets which guard covers which shift for the coming week.
5. Quick Swap — For the moment the agency sends a different person at short notice and Rajesh has to correct the gate page from his phone in two taps.
6. Guards — The short list of guards with names and photographs, so the gate page can show a face and not just text.

What it keeps track of

• Guards — name, photograph, which agency sent them, which shifts they usually cover
• Shifts — which day, start time, end time, which guard, and whether this one is a fill-in
• Gate — society name, which gate, the intercom number a visitor can ring

The one decision that matters

Should the gate page ask people to sign in, or should it be open to anyone with the link? A society register with names and faces feels like something to lock. But the people who need it most are strangers standing outside at night, and a courier will not create an account. Leave it open. What protects the guards is not a password, it is choosing what the page shows: first name, photograph, shift end time and the gate intercom number, and never a guard's personal mobile number, home address or agency identity number. An open page with three safe facts on it is better than a locked page nobody opens.

What to leave out of the first version

Leave out attendance. No punch-in, no hours worked, no monthly totals for the agency bill. The moment guards have to touch the software themselves, it stops being reliable, because the night guard will not mark himself present at two in the morning and the page will start lying. Rajesh corrects the roster when it changes, and that is the only hand that touches it. Salary and leave records can stay where they already are.

How you would know it worked

A month goes by and nobody types who is on the gate now into the society WhatsApp group. Instead somebody forwards the link to a delivery boy, and Rajesh's phone stays quiet after eleven at night.

Build it

Paste this in and let it run.

I am secretary of a housing society in Kothrud with 96 flats and four guards covering our main gate in three shifts. Build me a simple website page that anyone can open on a phone without signing in, showing just one thing: which guard is at the gate right now, their first name and photograph, and the time that shift ends, along with who takes over next and our gate intercom number. It must all fit on one phone screen with no scrolling. Only I should be able to sign in and set the week's shifts, and when the agency sends a fill-in at short notice I want to change that shift in two taps from my phone. Never show a guard's personal mobile number anywhere on the public page.