Basing on a probe report, RDC (north division) Dr PK Meherda has found that Burla NAC chairperson Chandrabati Naik belongs to general category and not Scheduled Caste (SC) community, and she had forged her caste certificate to win poll and grab the chairperson’s post. However, she has been successful in getting a stay order from the High Court on the decision.
As per the information, Naik got elected to Burla NAC from ward no 3 in the 2009 UlB polls. She contested the election as an SC after obtaining caste certificate from tehsildar of Sambalpur. As the post of chairperson was reserved for a woman SC candidate, she occupied the seat with the help of BJD. Prior to this, she was also vice-chairperson of Burla NAC. later, defeated candidate Manoj Suhula brought allegations that she had got elected producing forged caste certificate, following which the district administration initiated a probe into it. Chandrabati’s father belongs to Rajput community. But after her marriage in a fisherman’s (Keuta) family, she and her children identified themselves as SC for all purposes. But the allegation was since she was born in a Rajput family, she can’t change her caste after marriage. The then RDC (north) Dr AC Padhiary, in December 2012, also served a show cause notice on her. Meanwhile, Sambalpur tehsildar has cancelled the caste certificate issued to Naik.