SIR impasse in Kerala: EC announces measures to ease workload after BLOs allege heavy work pressure

Thiruvananthapuram - Days after a one-day boycott by the Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in Kerala, the work pressure from the senior district officials have taken a toll on the BLOs who have to cover at-least 1600 houses per ward. Complaints were filed from multiple quarters by the BLOs to the corresponding district level officers.

Complaints were registered in large numbers after the unfortunate death of Aneesh George, a BLO in Kannur. Aneesh in his suicide letter had made serious allegations against a local CPM leader for allegedly threatening him. The suicide note has triggered protests in the region with Congress alleging that the CPI(M) and its leaders are trying to manipulate the electoral roll and thus impacting the local body results.

The death of 41-year-old Aneesh George has led to widespread discontentment among the officials who have raised complaints with the district collectors. The matter has also become a point of discussion with many officers writing letters and sending voice messages in social media to the respective district collectors.

"Our preliminary inquiry shows no signs of work-related pressure. Aneesh had been performing well as a BLO. In the first phase of the SIR process—distributing enumeration forms to households—he had already completed 77% of the work in his ward under the Payyannur Assembly constituency. The Chief Electoral Officer has asked for a detailed report on his death. After combining the findings from the ERO and the police, a consolidated report will be sent to the CEO”, said Kannur district collector Arun.

Amid Statewide protests over alleged work pressure faced by booth level officers (BLOs), an anganwadi teacher serving as a BLO reportedly collapsed during SIR related duties in Balal panchayat in Kasaragod, Kerala, on Monday (November 17, 2025) morning. However, her condition is stable.

Kerala government legally challenged the SIR registration procedure by approaching the supreme court. Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan in the all-party meet referred to SIR as ‘unscientific’ and is driven by malicious intent.

The Election Commission of India has modified the criterion for the appointment of booth level agents (BLA) by political parties and has decided to allow parties to set up help desks for the collection of filled-up enumeration forms for easing the workload of booth level officers (BLOs) assigned to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. The commission has also permitted the BLAs of recognized political parties to submit the applications — enumeration forms as well as Form 6 enrolment applications — in bulk.