Ex-Navy chief asked to confirm identity under SIR; authorities to reach out to him
Panaji (PTI): The Election Commission of India has issued a notice to former chief of naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash, asking him to attend a meeting to establish his identity as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.
Admiral Prakash, who has been settled in Goa since his retirement, said SIR forms should be revised if they are not “evoking” the required information.
A senior official said his details do not figure in the voter list last updated in 2002 and that he falls under the “unmapped” category.
Some X users, however, wondered what more the SIR team needs since the ex-Navy chief’s PPO (Pension Payment Order) and life certificate are already available in government databases.
“This is what is happening in most such cases. Admiral Prakash falls in the unmapped category,” South Goa District Collector and Returning Officer Egna Cleetus told PTI on Sunday.
Cleetus said she will go through the Navy veteran’s enumeration form on Monday. The authorities will reach out to him, she added.
During the ongoing SIR, Admiral Prakash (retd), a Vir Chakra awardee for his role in the India-Pakistan War of 1971, has been asked to remain present before the electoral officer to establish his identity after generating the “hearing notice”.
As the notice has sparked a discussion online, Admiral Prakash on Sunday wrote on X, “I neither need, nor have ever asked for any special privileges since retirement 20 yrs ago. My wife and I had filled the SIR forms as reqd & were pleased to see our names figured in the Goa Draft Electoral Roll 2026 on the EC website. We will, however, comply with EC notices.”
“May I point out to @ECIVEEP that (a) if the SIR forms are not evoking reqd info they should be revised; (b) the BLO visited us 3 times & could have asked for additional info; (c) we are an 82/78 yr old couple & have been asked to appear on 2 different dates 18 km away!!” he said in another post.
Responding to the post, Lt Col T S Anand (retd) wrote, “I believe Bugs in software may have caused, but if such a notice does come every citizen who has things in order can just go and show it, nothing wrong. So in case of Adm Arun Prakash Sir his PPO/Veteran Card is proof enough and for protocol the SIR team can go to his home.”
X user @LancerFlying, who identifies himself as Op Vijay and Op Meghdoot veteran, said, “His, YOURS and mine, PPO and life certificate is already on the Govt database. What more is needed by the SIR team than punch a few keys on the keyboard and access proof? Commonsense is missing, that is what is wrong!!”
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Stalin accuses Centre of trying to use women's quota as 'weapon,' slams EPS over delimitation
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin has strongly criticised the Centre over the women's reservation and accused it of trying to use it as a "weapon" to tackle the opposition before taking up the delimitation exercise based on population.
"The Union government is not concerned about implementing reservations for women. If their concerns were genuine, they could have done it right away. Rather than doing that, the BJP-led Centre is thinking of using it as a weapon to tackle opposition and take up the delimitation exercise based on population," he told PTI in an interview.
"Hence, the women's reservation must be implemented immediately without showing delimitation as a reason," the DMK president added.
Expressing apprehensions on the proposed delimitation exercise, the CM said it was the DMK that raised the first voice asserting the rights of the state after realising that Tamil Nadu would be affected by the proposed exercise. He also attacked his rival and AIADMK chief Edappadi K Palaniswami over the delimitation issue.
Recalling efforts made by the DMK to raise the issue of population-based delimitation, he said an all-party meeting and a meeting of CMs under the auspices of the Joint Action Committee seeking fair delimitation were convened. It sought to freeze delimitation for 25 years and stick to it based on the 1971 Census population.
"We urged the union government that states which successfully implemented population control programmes must not be punished," he added.
The party came up with "Tamil Nadu poradum, Tamil Nadu vellum" (Tamil Nadu will struggle, Tamil Nadu will win) and this is DMK's stand, he said.
"However, Palaniswami, who is seeking votes for the entry of the BJP through the backdoor, has till date been mute over delimitation, and this is a betrayal of the people of Tamil Nadu."
