SIR in Bengal: Nobel laureate Amartya Sen summoned by Election Commission? EC clarifies… | Today News

The Election Commission (EC) on Tuesday clarified that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who had reportedly been summoned over discrepancies in the spelling of his name in the voter list, is not required to appear for any hearing, PTI reported, citing an official.

The clarification followed reports that Sen had been summoned over discrepancies in the spelling of his name in the voter list.

TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee claimed earlier in the day that Sen has been served with an SIR hearing notice by the EC.

"On my way here, I was told that Professor Amartya Sen, the Nobel laureate who brought global recognition to our country, has been served with an SIR hearing notice. Many eminent people, like actor Dev and cricketer Md Shami, who was part of Team India's world cup winning squad, were also served notices.

A family member of Sen, however, told PTI that they had not yet received any hearing notice from the Commission.

"The confusion over the spelling is purely technical and has no bearing on the voter's eligibility. Our officials have been instructed to resolve such matters at the administrative level to prevent unnecessary controversy," the official told PTI.

The Commission emphasised that minor errors in voters' names do not affect the hearing process or a voter's rights, and authorities have been warned to avoid creating public disputes over such technicalities, according to the report.

He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 1998 for his research on poverty, famine, and inequality, showing that famines often result from unequal access to food rather than shortages. Sen is best known for the capability approach, which emphasises what people can do and be, rather than just theirincome.

Sen's work has shaped global policy, including the UN's Human Development Index, making him one of the most influential economists of his time.

Amartya Sen’s notable books include Poverty and Famines, Development as Freedom, Inequality Reexamined, On Economic Inequality, The Idea of Justice, and Collective Choice and Social Welfare.

Following the directive, the office of the state Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) sent instructions to all District Electoral Officers, asking for daily reports on the number of logical discrepancy notices served constituency-wise.

Earlier, during the first phase of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists, around 1.36 crore voters were found with data inconsistencies.

Earlier on Sunday, West Bengal CM Mamta Banerjee urged CEC Gyanesh Kumar to halt the “arbitrary and flawed” SIR in the state, warning that its continuation in the present form could trigger "mass disenfranchisement" and “strike at the foundations of democracy”.

She alleged that officials entrusted with the task had received no proper or uniform training, while the IT systems in use were “defective, unstable, and unreliable”.

On December 16, the EC published the draft electoral roll after the first phase of the SIR, with the electorate dropping from 7.66 crore to 7.08 crore following the deletion of over 58 lakh names. The second phase, which began on December 27, involves hearings of 1.67 crore electors under scrutiny, including 1.36 crore flagged for logical discrepancies and 31 lakh whose records lack mapping.