60-year-old Geeta Badyakar, a voter from part number 33 of Hindustan Cables Old Old Colony Junior Basic School, found herself in serious trouble after officials at the Rupnarayanpur ITI hearing centre of Hindustan Cables in Salanpur block suddenly demanded her birth certificate during the SIR hearing.
According to allegations, Geeta had appeared at the hearing with all necessary documents. Despite this, officials asked her to submit her birth certificate as well. As she did not possess one, she was turned away and instructed to arrange it before appearing again.
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The demand has left Geeta panicked, upset, and distressed. Upon inquiry, it was found that her serial number in the 2025 voter list is 280. She is illiterate and struggles to run her household. Like others, she had filled out the enumeration form, but her name did not appear in the preliminary draft voter list, which led to her being summoned for the hearing. Geeta was born in 1965.
Coming out of the hearing centre with tears in her eyes, Geeta said, “Where will I get a birth certificate from? Where will I arrange it from?” Her daughter was accompanying her at the time.
The matter was later reported to local social worker Subhash Mahajan, who was present at the venue. Speaking on the issue, Mahajan said, “She has her Aadhaar card and voter card. Then why was a birth certificate demanded?”
