By: Our Web Desk & PTI Published in: *The Telegraph Online* Date: January 12, 2026 Source: https://www.telegraphindia.com/india/former-navy-chief-arun-prakash-flagged-as-unmapped-ec-seeks-identity-hearing-during-goa-sir-drive/cid/2142259
Admiral Prakash, a Vir Chakra awardee for his role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War, has been settled in Goa since his retirement The Election Commission of India’s ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls has triggered an unusual public discussion after a notice was issued to former chief of naval staff Admiral Arun Prakash (retd), asking him to attend a meeting to establish his identity. Admiral Prakash, a Vir Chakra awardee for his role in the 1971 India-Pakistan War, has been settled in Goa since his retirement. The notice requires him to appear before the electoral officer after the generation of a “hearing notice” under the SIR process. A senior official said Admiral Prakash’s details do not appear in the voter list last updated in 2002 and that he falls under the “unmapped” category. “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. She added that she would go through the Navy veteran’s enumeration form on Monday and that authorities would reach out to him. The notice has drawn attention on social media, with several users questioning why further verification was needed when the former Navy chief’s Pension Payment Order (PPO) and life certificate already exist in government databases. Admiral Prakash himself addressed the issue on X, stating, “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.” In another post, he flagged concerns about the process. “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!!” The posts prompted responses from fellow veterans. 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.” Another X user, @LancerFlying, who identified himself as an Operation Vijay and Operation 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!!”
