Bengaluru: Bharat Ratna awardee and renowned scientist Professor C.N.R. Rao, 92, received a notice on Wednesday, in connection with the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka over a spelling mismatch in his name, reports said.
The notice issued to Professor Rao cites “self-name mismatch” as the reason. While his name reportedly appears in the older electoral rolls as “Prof CNR Rao”, the current electoral roll contains an additional “f” in the professional title, recording it as “Proff CNR Rao”.
The discrepancy has resulted in the veteran scientist being asked to establish his identity as part of the electoral roll verification process.
Under the SIR exercise, “self-name mismatch” refers to a discrepancy that arises when an elector uses details from the 2002 electoral roll while filling out the SIR enumeration form, but those details do not match the particulars in the current electoral roll.
Professor Rao has reportedly been asked to appear for a hearing in Malleshwaram, near the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), to clarify the discrepancy and establish his identity.
The development has drawn attention as Rao is one of India’s most celebrated scientists and a recipient of the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna.
The notice is part of the electoral roll verification process being undertaken under the SIR exercise, which involves checking and updating voter details across the state.
It can be noted that C.N.R. Rao is one of India’s most distinguished scientists and a globally recognised solid-state and materials chemist. Born in Bengaluru in 1934, he has made major contributions to chemistry, particularly in solid-state materials, nanomaterials and structural chemistry. He founded the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) in 1976 and served as IISc Director from 1984 to 1994. Rao has authored more than 1,600 research papers and received numerous international honours. He was awarded the Bharat Ratna, India’s highest civilian honour, in 2013 for his outstanding contribution to science.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had clarified on Tuesday that the notice issued to Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba during the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls was related to a mismatch in his name in the electoral records and said the issue has now been resolved.
In a post on social media platform X, the CEO shared a clarification issued by the District Election Officer (DEO), Mangaluru, regarding the correction of Hajabba’s name.
“With regard to the issue concerning the correction of the name of Padma Shri awardee Shri Harekala Hajabba, it is clarified that a mismatch in the name of the elector was found. In order to correct his name, officials visited and collected the documents from him. The issue has now been resolved,” the DEO said.
The clarification came after election officials served Hajabba a notice asking him to appear with documents following a discrepancy between the name in the current electoral roll and the name recorded during the previous SIR exercise.
The notice, which was issued at his residence, directed Hajabba to appear before the election officer with the required documents to retain his name in the final electoral roll. He was asked to appear at the Harekala Gram Panchayat on September 11.
However, within a few hours of serving the notice, the Village Accountant reportedly returned to Hajabba’s residence and withdrew it. The officials assured him that the discrepancy in his name would be corrected.
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