After Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, the Election Commission summoned a Bengali scientist of India’s Chandrayaan mission for the SIR hearing. Along with the Bengali scientist, his parents were asked to appear at the hearing on the day of the hearing.
On Thursday, the scientist, Abhijit Bandyopadhyay, appeared with his family at the hearing centre of the Bridge & Roof factory. Even after attending the hearing, uncertainty remains over whether their names will finally appear in the voter list.
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Abhijit is a resident of Uttam Ghosh Lane in Salkia of West Bengal's Howrah district. He completed his MSc in Electronics Engineering from Jadavpur University and later began research on Aerospace Development at the Indian Institute of Science.
Role in Chandrayaan mission and current work abroad
After the failure of the Chandrayaan-2 launch in 2019, Abhijit conducted research to identify the causes behind it. His research led to new solution formulas, following which the Chandrayaan mission was successful. Currently, he is a faculty member at Luleå University in Sweden.
He had returned to his home in Howrah last December during the Christmas holidays. He informed that all the documents related to his family had already been submitted earlier to the BLO for SIR, yet they were still called again for the hearing.
Mental distress and concerns over document requirements
Abhijit said, "This is extremely unfortunate. We are old residents here. The way we have been called, we are in mental distress. Both our anxiety and worry have increased."
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He further added, "The way the Election Commission is asking for documents to prove citizenship, many people don’t have them. Many haven’t passed secondary school. Many don’t have bank accounts, LIC certificates or passports. But everyone has ration cards. The Commission could have given recognition to that."
Abhijit is scheduled to return to his workplace abroad in a few days. Since it will not be possible for him to come back anytime soon, he has expressed that he would have to return with a deep sense of anxiety regarding the situation.
