Scientist CNR Rao, whose work in some of the most complex areas of chemistry unlocked new paths of understanding, has been served a notice over “self-name mismatch” under the voter roll clean-up exercise special intensive revision (SIR) in Karnataka.
The notice requires him to appear for a hearing in Bengaluru’s Malleshwaram, near the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), to solve the matter, news agency IANS reported. His name appears in the older electoral rolls as ‘Prof CNR Rao’, while it appears as ‘Proff CNR Rao’ – with the extra ‘f’. “It appears to have been put online on the ECI website. A physical letter also has not reached us. Rao is a recipient of the country’s highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna. Six years later, he received a notice from the Election Commission over discrepancies. Other noted personalities have also received similar notices frequently in many states where the SIR exercise was held. Hajabba is a Padma Shri awardee. The matter had caused a surprise in Mangaluru where Hajabba is widely known for his social work and for building a school in his village, using money he earned by selling oranges in Mangaluru. That brought him the national honour.
Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) had clarified yesterday that a notice issued to activist Harekala Hajabba was due to a mismatch in his name in the electoral records and that the issue had been resolved. Harekala Hajabba also received India’s fourth-highest civilian award Padma Shri in 2020 for his work in promoting education. Born in Bengaluru in 1934, Rao 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 IISc in 1976 and served as IISc director from 1984 to 1994. He has authored more than 1,600 research papers and received numerous international honours. Over 43.81 lakh notices have been generated as part of the SIR exercise, of which 7.31 lakh have so far been delivered to electors, the chief electoral officer’s office said last week. The state has 4,46,38,124 electors on the rolls as of September 4, comprising 2.21 crore male, 2.24 crore female and 2,871 transgender electors, it said.
A representative from Rao’s office, however, said they have not received any notice yet. I am not clear about that one; I have not seen it,” the representative said, referring to the Election Commission of India or ECI. The representative said except for the extra letter in the word “Proff”, there is no other issue. “According to the office records and email, there is no notice as of now. The notices have been issued to electors whose names fall under the “no mapping” and “anomalies” categories as part of the electoral roll revision exercise, officials said.
