'Chutia Not Slang But Surname': Assam Woman Whose Online Job Application Was Rejected

A lady from Assam alleged that she could not register for a job on the online portal of the government-run National Seed Corporation Limited (NSCL) because it rejected her surname multiple times.

Priyanka Chutia (pronounced as 'Sutiya') from Assam's Gogamukh town, is a Masters in Agricultural Economics and Farm Management. She belongs to the Chutia community, one of the Assam's oldest ethnic groups.

The woman took to Facebook last week to narrate her ordeal."…And the reason is nothing but my surname and the portal keeps on saying to use 'proper naming' words. I feel really sad and frustrated at times explaining people that I am not using slang but it's a community where I belong," she wrote on Facebook.

Chutia is an offensive slang word in the Hindi language.

She later wrote to NSCL about her concerns and her registration was accepted a day later. The help desk at NSCL said, "There was a technical flaw in the code for filtration of the name of the candidates which was rectified in early stages."

However, she put up the post on social media to make people aware about the issue. In several instances in the past, the surname of many people was misunderstood as slang.

The All Assam Chutia Students' Union (AACSU) had earlier accused Facebook of blocking the accounts of thousands of people with the name Chutia, claiming that the social network has confused it with the Hindi slang.

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