The slugfest over Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls intensified in Bengal after yet another booth level officer (BLO) on Saturday committed suicide.
The 53-year-old para teacher who was working at a government school at Chapra in Nadia district took the extreme step, failing to cope with the pressure of digitising SIR forms, her family members said.
She was working as the BLO of part number 201 of the AC 82 Chapra block in the North Krishnagar constituency.
The suicide note she left translated to English read, “None in my family is responsible for my death. I am taking my life because I cannot take the workload anymore. I had completed 95 per cent of the offline task. But I don’t know anything about the online task. I don’t want to go to jail or suffer other humiliations at this age.” The Election Commission had directed the Nadia District Magistrate, who was also the District Electoral Officer, to submit a report on the death of the said BLO.
This was the second such incident in a matter of one week. Earlier on Wednesday, another BLO was found dead in the Jalpaiguri district.
The BLO was identified as 48-year-old Shanti Muni Ekka, who was an Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) worker. Her husband, Suku Ekka, alleged that Shanti was under tremendous work pressure due to the SIR. The incident also takes place a day after Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee wrote to the Chief Election Commissioner to extend the date of completion of SIR formalities.
Even as a political war of words ensued between the Trinamool Congress and the opposition BJP, the Chief Minister once again took to social media, writing about the “profound shock” she suffered after coming to know about the death of the BLO.
“Profoundly shocked that yet another BLO has committed suicide at Krishnanagar today,” Banerjee said, adding the victim had “blamed ECI in her suicide note” and wondering, “How many more lives will be lost? How many more need to die for this, SIR? How many more dead bodies shall we see for this process? This has become truly alarming now!! “A work (SIR) that was nearly perfectly discharged in 2002 took two years. “This is now being done in two months. ‘This is an inhuman task thrust on the human beings,’ the minister said.
Arup Biswas, a senior minister in the Bengal Cabinet, also blamed the ECI: “At least 34 people have died in Bengal after SIR was launched. Many voters committed suicide because of sheer fear, and now the BLOs are either committing suicide or suffering strokes and getting hospitalised. Already, 2-3 BLOs have been released from duty because they have suffered strokes due to work pressure. How many more lives will the BJP and the ECI take before SIR is completed?
“While Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya roundly held the State Government responsible for the SIR deaths, wondering “why no other states where SIR is in progress are reporting such deaths and why only people are dying in Bengal,” State BJP MLA and spokesperson Agnimitra Paul held the Chief Minister responsible for the increasing work pressure on the BLOs.