Bengaluru: Bharat Ratna laureate and eminent scientist Professor C.N.R. Rao, 92, has been issued a notice under Karnataka’s Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls over a spelling mismatch in his name, reports said on Wednesday.
The notice cites “self-name mismatch” as the grounds. While the older electoral roll lists him as “Prof CNR Rao”, the current roll records the entry as “Proff CNR Rao”, inserting an extra “f” in the professional title.
This discrepancy has led election officials to ask the veteran researcher to establish his identity as part of the SIR verification process.
SIR Rule Behind Notice
Under the SIR exercise, a “self-name mismatch” occurs when an elector relies on details from the 2002 electoral roll while filling the SIR enumeration form, but those particulars do not tally with the current roll. As a result, Professor Rao has reportedly been summoned for a hearing in Malleshwaram, close to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), to clarify the variation and confirm his identity.
The episode has attracted attention given Rao’s stature as one of India’s most honoured scientists and a recipient of the Bharat Ratna, the country’s highest civilian award. The notice forms part of the broader SIR drive, which entails checking and updating voter information across Karnataka, as reported by ap7am.com
Born in Bengaluru in 1934, Prof Rao is a globally acknowledged solid-state and materials chemist. He established the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit at IISc in 1976 and served as the institute’s director from 1984 to 1994. With more than 1,600 research papers and numerous international accolades, he was conferred the Bharat Ratna in 2013 for his exceptional contributions to science.
The development follows a similar SIR-related notice to Padma Shri awardee Harekala Hajabba, which the Karnataka Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) addressed on Tuesday.