Three BLO suicides, one common trigger: SIR strain under spotlight in Kerala, Rajasthan, MP

New Delhi: A political storm is brewing in Kerala, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh after three Booth Level Officers (BLOs) in these states allegedly died by suicide. It is being alleged that they took their own lives due to enormous workload related to Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. There are also accusations that they were given unreasonable and stiff targets. In Tamil Nadu, complaints are flooding and the exercise has faced disruptions.

In Kerala, BLO Aneesh George, aged 44, was found dead in his house on Sunday. He was the BLO for booth number 18 under Payyanur Assembly seat in Kannur district. Even though no suicide note was found, his family and close friends claimed that George, an office attendant at a school, was under pressure to finish his job within the stipulated time, (by December 4), according to a report in The Indian Express. On Monday, BLOs across Kerala called for a strike and refused to work in protest against George’s alleged suicide.

On November 4, the Election Commission started the enumeration phase of the exercise across 12 states and Union Territories, including Kerala and Rajasthan. As George was unfamiliar with the area he was assigned, he struggled with distributing the enumeration forms, his friend said. George had reportedly sought help from the booth-level agents of political parties, but they did not help him.

Kannur District Collector Arun K Vijayan — who is also the district electoral officer — submitted his report on George’s death, suggesting that the BLO was not under any work pressure. He pointed out that George had been issued 1,065 enumeration forms for distribution. When officials reviewed the records on November 16, only 50 forms were found pending. The remaining forms had been distributed, but the digital updates had not been completed, the report said. The Peringome Police registered a case of unnatural death, as per a report in The New Indian Express.

The CPI(M) and the Congress staged protests over George's death. They have called to defer the SIR process until the third week of December, when the local body elections are over.

In Datia district of Madhya Pradesh, a goverment school staff, posted as BLO, allegedly committed suicide after experiencing SIR-related work load. The deceased school staff has been identified as Udyhan Singh Sihare. He was working as a lab assistant in Saalon under Bander assembly constituency. According to his colleagues, Sihare seemed under pressure due to SIR-related work and was unusually quiet. Sihare was found hanging from the ceiling of his own school on Monday.

In a similar case, 45-year-old Mukesh Jangid, a teacher and BLO in Rajasthan’s Nahri Ka Bas allegedly died by suicide on Sunday, according to a PTI report. He allegedly died after jumping in front of a running train on Sunday. His family has alleged that work pressure linked to roll revision and deadline drove him to take his own life.

His brother was quoted as saying by the news agency that he recovered a purported suicide note in which Jangid claimed that he was under stress because of pressure from his supervisor to finish the electoral work. The note added that Jangid faced threats of suspension, according to the report. The police has taken cognisance and based on the family’s complaint filed a case.

Vipin Prakash Sharma, state general secretary of the Akhil Rajasthan Rajya Karmachari Sanyukt Mahasangh, reportedly said the continuous push from the state, the district collector and the SDM is creating unnecessary pressure on field workers. Rajasthan Congress spokesperson Swarnim Chaturvedi has called for proper probe and effective action against those responsible for Jangid's death.

In Tamil Nadu, the Federation of Associations of Revenue Employees (FERA) has decaled a statewide boycott of the SIR exercise from November 18. They are voicing their angst against heavy workloads and unreasonable targets that have forced staff to juggle multiple responsibilities. FERA has urged the CEO of Tamil Nadu to remove intense work pressures and mental stress because of the ongoing SIR exercise across the state.